Ahead of the Africa Bitcoin Conference 2023, the Africa Bitcoin Community Programme Manager, Prince Akpah, has emphasised the need for Africa to adopt digital currency for deals and business transactions.
He made the call at a briefing in Lagos to announce the second edition of the ABC in Accra, Ghana from December 1 to 3.
According to Akpah, there is a significant increase in the use of Bitcoin in Africa, noting that of the about 30 countries that attended the conference last year, a majority of them were Africans.
He added: “If all these people in their countries use Bitcoin to transact businesses or financial transactions, it shows that the adoption rate people have predicted globally happening across the continent is much more than what is happening in the West or Europe.
Akpah believes that with how young people are creating products, developing new technologies, and blockchain, adoption is happening in real time.
While the conference will run for three days, the programme manager is confident that Bitcoin has transformed how people interact with money and the global monetary system.
Thus, he underscored the efforts of the conference organisers and the wider Bitcoin community to synergise with regulators and governments in Ghana and across Africa to promote Bitcoin adoption.
Speaking also, the co-founder and Convener of ABC, Farida Nabourema, outlined the conference’s aim to gain an understanding of how Bitcoin is impacting the continent and devise ways to increase its adoption.
Hence, the event hopes to devote more time to developers to enable them to create solutions that involve Bitcoin applications.
At ABC 2023, a trade fair will feature to help the public gain a better understanding of Bitcoin. This will encourage adoption, and foster lively discussions around Bitcoin.
Farida also announced that all attendees of the Developers Konnect pre-conference event will receive a free ticket to attend the main conference.
On her part, the Programme Manager for Btrust Builders, Stephanie Titcombe shared more insights on the organisation’s upcoming “Build for Africa” hackathon.
She said the entry requirements primarily involve developing solutions to African problems using Bitcoin and the Lightning Network.
While encouraging Nigerians and Africans to participate in the Hackathon, Titcombe pointed out a prize pool of $10,000 for it.
