Crypto currency trending in Zambia

CRYPTO currency is slowly gaining ground in Zambia - thanks to the war between Russia and Ukraine.

Thanks also to rigid exchange controls in some countries.

With Russia facing sanctions, remitting money to that country is only possible through crypto currency as most global money transfer companies have pulled out of that country.

Mr Mulonda Singongi, a former banker, runs an ePayments kiosk in Lusaka for global money service. Mr Singongi says to avoid running foul of regulators, parents and guardians sending money to their children and dependents in Russia have resorted to utilising crypto currencies.

Mr Singongi says even Russian expatriates and business people are using crypto currency to send and receive money because of its potential to attract attention from regulators.

Besides remittance to Russia, crypto currency has also become a popular medium for people remitting funds when buying goods and services from Nigeria because central bank exchange controls are rigid in Africa’s most populous country.

Mr Singongi says crypto currency is now getting accepted worldwide and becoming the most preferred method of remitting funds to countries such as Nigeria and Kenya among informal traders.

He says most Kenyans use M-Pesa for sending and receiving funds. M-Pesa is Africa’s most successful mobile money service and East Africa’s largest fintech platform. “Nigeria has foreign exchange restrictions. You cannot send in United States dollars to Nigerian Naira via bank or remittance. So people use crypto currency which is converted to Naira. Transfers are instant,” Mr Singongi says.

He estimates that globally, crypto currency could account for about US$30 billion to

US$100 billion daily. Zambia is however still lagging as trade in crypto currency is a new phenomenon.

Mr Singongi says most freelancers are opting to get paid through crypto currency because it is faster, thus convenient compared to PayPal which a lot of Zambian freelancers fail to use due to country specific restrictions.

He says crypto scams are usually investment scams that have nothing to do with cryptocurrency Mr Singongi says crypto currency offers safe options to buy or sell crypto in Zambia, Yellow Card being the most practical for Zambian users.