If you are a member of Africa’s expanding diaspora, then Bitcoin could potentially hold the key to a better life for your friends and relatives in the motherland. Many nations on the African continent are dependent on money transfers from abroad known as remittances.
In fact, it comprises a significant portion of the GDP of many African countries where 326 million people lack access to basic banking services.
Leaders of the pack
Among the Bitcoin related companies spearheading the movement are Kipochi, BitPesa and M-Pesa.
In Swahili, Kipochi means wallet or purse - a fitting name for a Bitcoin wallet that lets users receive and send Bitcoin all over the world using the M-Pesa platform. This service allows even users with low cost feature phones to take advantage of the service where your mobile number is your account number.
This is especially crucial in Africa as only 13% of the population has access to the internet. Moreover, it is expected that there will still be 5.6 non-smartphones for every smartphone by 2015.