Africa’s professionals embracing Bitcoin
Many adoptees are young executives aiming to supplement their salaries, others are jobless millennials
In a sleek new high-rise in Uganda’s capital, an enthusiastic lecturer described his financial success with the cryptocurrency Bitcoin while his earnings were projected on a screen.
“What I have earned in oneand-a-half years from Bitcoin is more than I earned in 10 years as a teacher,” Richard M. Bagorogo told his audience. “I am living on Bitcoin because getting a job in this country is not easy.”
Some tech-savvy Africans are embracing Bitcoin, the most popular virtual currency, despite the warnings of a few governments, seeing the volatility in its value a better risk than the usual hustle amid the continent’s unemployment.
Many Bitcoin adoptees are professionals aiming to supplement their salaries, but others are jobless millennials hoping to make a living by trading the cryptocurrency, which isn’t tied to any bank or government and, like cash, allows users to spend and receive money anonymously or mostly so.
In Kampala, Uganda’s capital, and elsewhere a small community turns up at events where stars like Bagorogo preach what they call “the gospel of Bitcoin.”
On a recent morning Bagorogo explained how he once could not afford to enrol his children in the international school where he taught. Now, he said, his lifestyle has changed: a recent holiday in Dubai and more than enough money to help out his father.
Uganda’s central bank has warned that investing in Bitcoin and other digital currencies “is taking a risk in the financial space where there is neither investor protection nor regulatory purview.”
Kenya and Nigeria have issued similar concerns, and last year Namibia officially banned the use of cryptocurrencies for commercial purposes. But other countries in Africa appear open to the possibilities. Last year Tunisia announced it would launch a digital currency and South Africa is researching the technology’s feasibility. Bagorogo encourages people to invest in one of over two dozen global mining pools. For many who can’t afford to buy and hoard large amounts, the potential returns, including dividends, can seem promising.
Such facilities, however, have faced doubts about whether they are genuine and some countries have warned of money laundering and the threat to government-backed currencies.