Web3 economy to gain more traction in Africa through DeFi-based financial inclusion
2 min readWeb3 in Africa began with cryptocurrency, with blockchain technology bringing a lot of transformation regarding transparency and people’s control over their finances. The Web3 economy in Africa continues gaining traction with decentralized finance-based financial inclusion.
Fonbnk, the Web3 on-ramp that allows Africans to obtain cryptocurrency assets by exchanging their airtime credits, has partnered with Tanda, a merchant network platform in East Africa, to launch an airtime trading marketplace across Tanda’s network of agents.
The partnership between Tanda agents and vendors in East Africa can increase liquidity in the marketplace through the buying and selling of prepaid airtime for profit. This, in turn, can create opportunities for agents to earn revenue and also allow them to store their profits in dollarized stablecoins.
The partnership gives African micro-entrepreneurs more earning opportunities, creating a growth flywheel effect through improved liquidity and marketplace efficiency. This cycle builds trust and generates even more liquidity. Moreover, this partnership enables more African users to participate in the Web3 economy — without requiring bank accounts or cards — by using only their airtime credits.
Although Fonbnk operates throughout Africa, its partnership with Tanda is concentrated in East Africa. Fonbnk plans to expand earning opportunities for African micro-entrepreneurs and bring decentralized finance-based financial inclusion to the masses across Africa.
During the first episode of Cointelegraph’s Hashing It Out podcast, the co-founder of Fonbnk identified the rise in crypto adoption as being due to several factors, such as the chance to earn money, inflation, currency devaluation and the ease of doing business on a global scale.
Web3 can open up an intra-African exchange economy, and it can be used for purchases and transportation between African nations thanks to the ability to be used between borders. It will assist Africans in generating more economic value in the wider market.
Related: Bitcoin gaming enters Africa with local crypto exchange partnership
According to BitcoinAfrica.io, the top five African countries whose communities are adopting Web3 and crypto are South Africa, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Kenya and Ghana. They have the most demand for digital currency and the most active local cryptocurrency communities.
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