According to James Mwangi, CEO of Equity Group Holdings Plc, one of Kenya largest lenders, cryptocurrencies have the potential to supplement mobile money in Africa if regulators on the continent modify their attitudes towards digital currencies. The Central Bank of Africa must first be convinced of the benefits of cryptocurrencies. He believes that embracing cryptocurrencies is one way for Africa to get ahead of other continents in terms of fourth industrial technology adoption.
Mwangi stated in statements carried by Bloomberg that most of the continent’s central banks have either prohibited or restricted the usage of cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin. He did, however, mention that a few governments have or are looking into methods to adopt cryptocurrency.
Mwangi explained:
“Africa will benefit substantially from leapfrogging on the fourth industrial technologies, and cryptocurrency is one of them.”
The CEO referenced the increase in mobile money transactions in Kenya to back up his point. According to Mwangi, mobile money transactions have now surpassed hard currency transactions because Kenyan regulators were prepared to experiment with new technologies.
Mwangi also proposed that leveraging future technology such as artificial intelligence might pave the way for Africa to skip ahead to the fourth industrial revolution.
