Browsing: Blockchain Africa

• The Africa Fintech Accelerator program will remain open until August 25th, and the first cohort will debut in September. 
• Plug and Play, the world’s leading innovative platform will partner with Visa to ensure the program’s success.
• Visa committed to invest $1 billion in Africa by 2027.

Africa’s fintech Industry is the continent’s most rapidly growing economic activity. Its growth to fame has attracted plenty of investors and international organizations, each trying to promote the adoption of digital money globally. In recent news, Visa is accepting applications to its Africa Fintech Accelerator Program, urging blockchain-based and fintech startups to sign up.

Africa’s fintech accelerator program

To further the continent’s digital transformation, Visa took an active role in supporting Africa’s fintech industry. This global payment technology company has officially opened applications for the Africa Fintech Accelerator Program. The main aim of this endeavour is to revive the adoption rate of digital money …

In February, Nigeria dominated most tech news outlets following the ban on the trading of cryptocurrencies which triggered anger among Nigerians seeing cryptos as a safe haven in the populous economy.

The West African nation is the world’s second-largest Bitcoin market after the United States and despite this, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is cracking down on the trade of cryptocurrencies. 

Cryptocurrency technology is decentralized and no government, company, or person controls it.

Read: Is Bitcoin poor Africans’ alternative reserve currency?

In the crackdown directive on February 5, CBN ordered commercial banks and other financial institutions to close accounts transacting with cryptocurrency exchanges.  A week later, Bitcoin’s value doubled. 

While the CBN has not clearly stated its reasons for the crackdown, the reality on the ground is that Africa’s giant economy is facing dollar shortages following the sharp decline in …