World
Why Africa Might Define the Future of the Crypto Market
While many prominent experts call the African continent one of the most promising for the future of the cryptomarket, the numbers so far are not convincing. But what makes it so interesting and how do people in Africa actually use cryptocurrencies in 2021?
What makes Africa such a promising market
The report “The Stare of Crypto Africa” calls the region “one of, if not the most promising region for the adoption of cryptocurrencies”. Jack Dorsey, the CEO of Twitter and Square, tweets that “Africa will define the future” of the whole crypto industry.
At the same time, Africa is still the smallest economy by the total value of transactions in the world: with over 1.2 billion population it accounts only for 2% of the global value transacted in cryptocurrencies. So how does being the smallest economy in transactional volume in crypto blend with being one of the most promising regions?
The first answers can be derived from a recent Chainalysis report that states that only in one year, from July 2020 to June 2021, the African crypto-economy had grown over 1200%. Moreover, some countries in the region like Kenya or Nigeria are among the top 20 of the Global Adoption Index.
As researchers from Arcane put it, the African market’s success сan be attributed to “the unique combination of economic and demographic trends”. One of the drivers of its uniqueness is the fact that, according to different estimates, 57% to 66% of the population has no such thing as a simple bank account.
The situation forces people to look for alternatives and that is why such countries as Kenya and Nigeria are among the countries with the highest adoption rate of cryptocurrencies. In the end, due to the lack of the infrastructure affordable for the majority of citizens, people adapted and now they “have no problems with mastering new technologies”, as Sergey Ordin, marketing director of the international crypto community Roy Club with representative offices in Africa, puts it.
He also shared that “remarkably high interest towards innovative financial opportunities with low entry levels” shows in the Roy Club members statistics: however the offices in Africa opened their doors in 2021, the number of its participants is already 15% of all members at a global level (approximately 100 000 out of 700 000)
Use cases: From cutting transactional costs to financial independents
With most of the population unbanked and the fact that cross-border payments in Africa cost on average more than at any other main continent (per the World Bank, up to 8.9% per transaction while the global average is 6.8), there is no surprise that remittance payments became the most popular use case for cryptocurrencies.
Remittance payments volume has been steadily growing for the last couple of years. Per Chainalysis, it has grown 10 times from April 2019 to April 2021, for example. Also, with time, not only individuals but businesses started to use cryptocurrencies for doing international business in some areas. Artur Schaback, the confounder of the popular in Africa P2P exchange Paxful illustrated this point with an example:
“If you’re working with a partner in China to import goods to sell in Nigeria or Kenya, it can be hard to send enough fiat currency to China to complete your purchases. It’s often easier to just buy Bitcoin locally on a P2P exchange and then send it to your partner”
The situation drastically changed in the middle of 2020 when stay-home policies and other restrictions became a catalyst for exploring other use cases for cryptocurrencies. There is no surprise that when the pandemic worsened the situation with national currencies that had high devaluation rates even before 2020 people started to preserve their savings by using bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. For example, in Nigeria, Chainalysis shows the correlation between the peaks of the devaluation of Naira, the local currency, and trading volumes on P2P platforms with this currency.
Also, 2020 inevitably worsened the situation with employment. Young people who are in general more well-versed in new technologies in a moment with growing unemployment and uncertainty opted to use cryptocurrencies as a source of income. Buchi Okoro, the CEO of the African crypto exchange Quidax, shared that a high proportion of the users of the exchange use cryptocurrencies “to earn a living”. And indeed, those who invested in bitcoin, for example, in March 2020 at a price of $6500 definitely succeeded making 900% profits by March 2021 when the bitcoin price was already $60000.
Now, when the bitcoin price growth is slowing down, another way to earn a living becomes more and more popular in Africa – staking. Staking is in many ways similar to mining since it involves users in performing such network functions as block validation with two main exceptions: it does not require expensive equipment and there is no need to acquire special skills. Staking is the mechanism of getting profit from owning cryptocurrencies that work on the Proof-of-Work algorithms and putting them on hold for some time.
Since P2P platforms are also very popular in Africa, the idea of sharing with the community is no stranger there. That is probably why staking pools became so popular. They work in the following way: members of the community pool their resources together to increase their chances for a good profit. For example, at Roy Club, according to Ordin, staking pools bring their members from 5% (for pools with 50,000 UMI) to 40% (for pools with over 1 billion UMI) monthly.
Moreover, the people’s readiness to adopt new technologies is coupled with their readiness to learn. Sergey Odin specifically highlighted the significant local interest in educational products like Roy School and Roy Academy that offer courses for both novices and advanced users free of charge.
To conclude, while the transactional volume is still tiny compared with other economies, the African continent has all chances to define the future of the crypto market with current growth rates and the readiness of its population to learn and adopt new technologies. While people immediately noticed that cryptocurrencies are useful for cutting costs of remittance payments, with time they also started to see a chance for financial independence and additional income in more complex products, like staking.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Accessing the US Dollar in the East Africa region has now been made easier with the expansion of the stablecoin settlement infrastructure of SCRYPT.
This development enables banks, payment providers and corporate treasury teams to move value into and out of the continent in real time.
Businesses paying international suppliers frequently have to convert local currency into USD before purchasing stablecoins for settlement, incurring FX conversions and spreads before any payment is made.
But SCRYPT is eliminating this intermediate conversion by enabling direct settlement corridors for local African currencies into stablecoins.
This development allows businesses to move from local currency to stablecoin settlement in a single licensed transaction, without first sourcing rationed bank dollars, as stablecoins are increasingly becoming settlement infrastructure rather than an investment product.
The expansion adds settlement support across four African currencies: the Kenyan shilling (KES), Tanzanian shilling (TZS), Rwandan franc (RWF) and Ugandan shilling (UGX). Each corridor is delivered through the same full-stack infrastructure our clients already use for trading, custody and treasury operations.
Speaking on this, the chief executive of SCRYPT, Norman Wooding, said, “Across Africa, stablecoin adoption is driven by economic need, not speculation.
“Businesses here are not chasing yield; they are trying to pay suppliers and manage treasury without losing margin to a banking system that rations dollars. Licensed, fair-rate dollar access is the clearest proof of what this infrastructure is for.”
Also commenting, the Managing Director of Markets & Trading at SCRYPT, Mr Gabriel Titopoulos, said, “Until now, reaching stablecoins from local African currencies meant buying scarce dollars and incurring several layers of conversion costs.
“SCRYPT removes this friction. Firms and payment providers can now settle straight from local currencies through live corridors, with local partners.”
World
African Graduates Association Promoting Multifaceted Initiatives With Russian Educational Institutions
By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh
In preparations for the third Russia-Africa Summit, scheduled for late October 2026, Dr Francois Ngan, deputy chairman of the Union of Associations of African Graduates of Soviet and Russian Universities, during an official working visit, has held a consultative meeting with Professor Vladimir Filippov, the President of the Russian University of Peoples’ Friendship (RUDN), and former Minister of Higher Education of Russia, Chairman of the National Commission for Accreditation of Higher Education.
RUDN is an educational institution established in 1960, primarily to provide higher education to Third World students. It has now become a popular multidisciplinary spot for many students, especially from developing countries. The university offers various academic programmes and has research infrastructure that comprises laboratories and interdisciplinary centres. The university is named after the former Congolese leader, Patrice Lumumba.
Dr Francois Ngan and Professor Filippov discussed the importance of the Graduates Association as a continental platform dedicated to strengthening unity, cooperation, and promoting shared progress among African graduates who studied in the former Soviet Union and in the Russian Federation. They also reviewed multifaceted initiatives that could bring together alumni associations from across Africa, whose members obtained education and professional training, and cultural experiences in Soviet and Russian institutions of higher learning.
Professor Filippov expressed optimism in addressing emerging challenges as a result of shifting geopolitical changes, emphasised strategic cooperation in the educational sphere with Africa, in general, and with the Republic of Cameroon, in particular, and further about the integration of African students during their studies in the Russian Federation.
The meeting also touched on academic and scientific work, the possibility of rewriting a scientific thesis, and the official organisation of transferring versions translated into six languages for the library of RUDN. Significant questions relating to Russia’s educational opportunities, collaborations and partnerships involving African countries were thoroughly discussed.
The Union of Associations of African Graduates of Soviet and Russian Universities was created under one continental umbrella to promote friendship, for professional networking, to engage in cultural exchange, and with particular emphasis on forging strategic cooperation between Africa and Russia.
World
Russia to Support Industrial Growth, Technological Advancement and Supply Chain Resilience across Africa
By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh
With the heightening of geopolitical rivalry and competition, a new Russia-Africa working group has emerged as a significant institutional mechanism and plans to focus on facilitating and monitoring strategic investments, industrialisation, and infrastructural development—the Strategic Action Plan 2023-2026—that was outlined during the second Russia-Africa summit, in St.Petersburg, the second largest city in the Russian Federation.
While substantial progress has, largely, lagged on the multidimensional economic front with Africa primarily due to its internal difficulties and the complexity of relations with its former Soviet neighbours, Russian officials believe there still remains huge untapped potential in strengthening bilateral cooperation. As planned, President Vladimir Putin has already signed an executive order that directs Moscow to host the forthcoming third Russia-Africa summit in October 2026.
On June 30, a regular meeting of the Business Council on Africa was held under the chairmanship of the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry. It was dedicated to issues of trade, economic and investment cooperation with Africa. The group discussed the current state and prospects for the implementation of policy initiatives with an emphasis on assisting the countries of the continent, strengthening their economic, energy, technological and food sovereignty, as well as training specialists for Africa.
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has reiterated that Russia-Africa relations primarily depend on an understanding of the importance of collective action based on the principles of equality, mutual respect and resolving common tasks. In the past few years, Russia-Africa cooperation has been noticeably strengthening. “We are deepening political dialogues, developing bilateral contacts with African countries, promoting cordial cooperation between ministries and departments, and expanding humanitarian exchanges. We are also continuing the structural diversification of trade partnerships and economic dimensions.”
“Next on the agenda is the launch of diplomatic missions in The Gambia, Liberia, Togo, and the Union of the Comoros,” Lavrov said at a meeting of the Business Council under the Russian foreign minister. Lavrov noted that Russian embassies began operating in three other African countries in 2025: Niger, Sierra Leone, and South Sudan. A new Department for Partnership with Africa was also established. According to the top diplomat, “expanding Russia’s diplomatic presence on the continent contributes to developing relations.”
There are already 45 Russian embassies operating in Africa. The Russian foreign minister noted that Moscow is quickly rebuilding its presence in African countries, which sharply declined during the collapse of the Soviet Union. “There will be literally four or five countries left where we still need to establish full-fledged embassies, and then, we will have 100 per cent coverage of the entire African continent with our diplomatic presence,” Lavrov emphasised.
After the first summit in October 2019, the Foreign Ministry also created the Secretariat of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum. Its main tasks include controlling the roadmap to Africa’s multidimensional cooperation and guiding potential Russian investors to the continent. This also underscored the priority and post-Soviet solidarity Russia currently attaches to its policy towards Africa, within the growing framework of the emerging new architecture of multipolarity in the Global South.
In an interview in June 2026, the director of the Department of Partnership with Africa at the Foreign Ministry, Tatyana Dovgalenko, shared a few insights in the lead-up to the third summit. Furthermore, Dovgalenko explained that Russia would move away from security to concentrate more on economic issues, especially to team up with African colleagues to streamline mechanisms for implementing projects that will ensure food security and agriculture, and help Africa in installing processing facilities to support its self-sufficiency. She also emphasised energy and vital infrastructures, and the third direction was to simultaneously work more coherently with sub-regional organisations.
Over the past few years, bilateral relations have been increasing. There are positive dynamics in trade turnover, estimated at $30 billion. Steps are being taken to build payment systems, preferably in national currencies, while Russia looks to open four more diplomatic offices, bringing the total to 48 across Africa. Russia is currently training 37,000 African students, but only approximately 1/3 on state scholarships in Russia’s educational institutions. “We are ready to share valuable experiences of building a sovereign development model with African partners to achieve self-reliant economic growth based on their own resources and capabilities. Russia aims at creating processing capabilities and localising production, and provides access to advanced technological solutions,” underlined Dovgalenko in her interview with New Eastern Outlook.
For African countries that have endured difficult decades on the path to political independence, it is now important to take full control over the untapped resources, direct income and revenue toward stimulating the national economic sector, rather than paying for the well-being of the Western “golden billion” during this changing geopolitical era, according to Dovgalenko.
According to reports, the forthcoming Russia-Africa summit will have an economic agenda, including the digital economy, technology, artificial intelligence, healthcare, investment, and settlements in global trade. Of course, the agenda will also cover Africa’s political aspects. But if African friends bring along any specific ideas, Russia will give them serious attention. In addition, with continuity and consistency, pay increased attention to expanding ties with Africa’s regional integration associations.
Going forward, the focus will be on translating strong trade relations into deeper investment partnerships, fostering technology collaboration, strengthening industrial linkages and contributing towards the shared objectives set by the leadership of both African countries and Russia. At the third summit, the above-mentioned specific initiatives will be further designed. In this regard, the key document, the new action plan for the next three-year period (2027-2029), is intended to reflect dynamic realities in the future relations of Russia and Africa
