Sovereign Frontier
Conversations and Insights on Decentralized Technologies, Innovations, and Culture.
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Episodes
Episodes
Thursday Apr 13, 2023
Thursday Apr 13, 2023
In this episode, we sit down with Atsu Davoh, the founder of Bitsika & Talkroom, Bitsika is a blockchain-powered payment platform based in Africa. Atsu Davoh shares the story of Bitsika, from its early days to its current state as a full-service payments app.
Along the way, He shares the challenges they faced and the pivotal moments that led to the company's success. One of the key takeaways is the importance of pivoting and being flexible as a startup. As He puts it, "The first idea is never the right idea. You need to be able to pivot and evolve as you go."
Listeners will also hear about the unique challenges of operating in Africa's tech scene, and how Bitsika has adapted to meet the needs of its users. From building trust with customers to navigating the regulatory landscape, He shares valuable insights for anyone looking to launch a startup in emerging markets such as Africa.
Disclaimer:
None of what is shared in this show is financial advice. Only the opinions of the individuals that make this show possible. Remember to always do your own research.
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Saturday Apr 08, 2023
Saturday Apr 08, 2023
Bankless Africa presents Sats & Gwei, a podcast for your weekly crypto news update from all around Africa!
Relevant links
Foreign investment in Nigeria declines due to dollar shortage and lack of crypto regulation
https://cointelegraph.com/news/nigerian-crypto-foreign-investment-is-at-a-record-low-study
Paxful Shutdown Leaves Nigerian Crypto Community Uncertain
https://punchng.com/bitcoin-platform-with-over-one-million-nigerian-users-shuts-down/
https://cointelegraph.com/news/paxful-shutdown-hit-nigeria-harder-than-the-rest-of-the-world-here-s-why
Africa-centred blockchain startups graduate from Ariob incubation program
https://disrupt-africa.com/2023/04/03/ariob-graduates-inaugural-cohort-for-african-blockchain-ecosystem/
DFS Lab and Stellar join forces to launch a new fund
https://bitcoinke.io/2023/03/introducing-the-dfs-lab-stellar-africa-fund-1/
Nigerian Property Tech Start-up House Africa Secures $400,000 in Funding
https://bitcoinke.io/2023/04/house-africa-secures-funding/
South African Professor speculates that the US Trying to "Assassinate Crypto"
https://news.bitcoin.com/south-african-professor-accuses-us-regulators-of-attempting-to-assassinate-crypto/
Thank you for tuning in.
If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating/review.
Sats & Gwei is a Bankless Africa podcast that brings you weekly crypto/web3 headlines about the Africa continent. Stay up to date with the most relevant crypto happenings across Africa.
Disclaimer:
None of what is shared in this show is financial advice. Only the opinions of the individuals that make this show possible. Remember to always do your own research.
Follow our Twitter https://twitter.com/Bankless_Africa
Follow us on instagram https://tinyurl.com/5n8s5axf Follow us on linkedIn https: //tinyurl.com/3j5d5mfz Join us on telegram https://t.me/banklessafrica
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Learn more about crypto and web 3 on our website https://banklessafrica.com/
Sunday Apr 02, 2023
Sunday Apr 02, 2023
Bankless Africa presents Sats & Gwei, a podcast for your weekly crypto news update from all around Africa!
Catch up to the most interesting and relevant crypto updates across Africa this week.
Relevant links
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/26/bitcoin-is-poised-to-blow-up-africas-86-billion-banking-system.html
https://bitcoinke.io/2023/03/project-khokha-to-explore-dao-principles/
https://cointelegraph.com/news/nigerian-crypto-investors-question-central-bank-s-decision-to-flag-p2p-users
https://news.bitcoin.com/report-regulations-governing-tokenized-deposits-and-crypto-assets-in-south-africa-set-to-effect-in-january-2025/
https://bitcoinke.io/2023/03/e-livestock-global-to-expand-across-africa/
https://weetracker.com/2023/03/28/nestcoin-plots-comeback-after-ftx/
https://cointelegraph.com/news/how-blockchain-can-help-reimagine-a-new-state-in-africa
Thank you for tuning in.
If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating/review.
Sats & Gwei is a Bankless Africa podcast that brings you weekly crypto/web3 headlines about the Africa continent. Stay up to date with the most relevant crypto happenings across Africa.
Disclaimer:
None of what is shared in this show is financial advice. Only the opinions of the individuals that make this show possible. Remember to always do your own research.
Follow our Twitter https://twitter.com/Bankless_Africa
Follow us on instagram https://www.instagram.com/invites/contact/?i=4zmo4lqcj8rr&utm_content=n74dwjoFollow us on linkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/bankless-africa-799178233Join us on telegram https://t.me/banklessafrica
Subscribe to our newsletter https://banklessafrica.substack.com/
Learn more about crypto and web 3 on our website https://banklessafrica.com/
Sunday Mar 26, 2023
Sunday Mar 26, 2023
Bankless Africa presents Sats & Gwei, a podcast for your weekly crypto news update from all around Africa!
Quick RecapContour blockchain X Absa facilitates letter credit solutions!⚖️The Pan African Bank Absa is set to join Contour blockchain network to enable a digitized end-to-end letter of credit solution across Africa. The financial services giant Absa is finalizing plans to join Contour, which is a worldwide network of financial institutions, businesses, and trading partners digitizes letters of credit and other trade financing documents.
Instant local bank transfers enabled in MM📏Nigerians can now use instant local bank transfers on meta mask with more African countries coming soon. Meta Mask has announced an upcoming feature that will allow Africans, specifically Nigerians to start to carry out instant local bank transfers. This move will also make crypto buying easier by allowing users to purchase directly from within the meta mask environment.
Bitcoin & Stables to facilitate Crypto mass adoption - Experts🦥Experts say Bitcoin and stable coins will bring crypto mass adoption to Africa. Blockchain experts are bullish on the fact that Bitcoin and stablecoins will continue to be the key drivers for mass crypto adoption in Africa. african countries have made several rounds of headlines in the blockchain ecosystem with a very significant one being the recognition of bitcoin as legal tender in the central african republic
EchoVC launches Blockchain fund!Africa-focused venture capital firm called EchoVC launches a blockchain fund. EchoVC has launched a fund to support blockchain startups across the African continent. The $8 million fund launched by EchoVC will be made accessible to blockchain startups in Africa that are attempting to solve the continent's most pressing problems using blockchain technology.Relevant linkshttps://bitcoinke.io/2023/03/absa-joins-contour-blockchain/ https://bitcoinke.io/2023/03/introducing-instant-bank-transfers-on-metamask-in-nigeria/ https://www.coindesk.com/business/2023/03/20/bitcoin-and-stablecoins-will-bring-crypto-mass-adoption-to-africa-experts-say/ https://news.bitcoin.com/africa-focused-venture-capital-firm-echovc-launches-blockchain-fund/ https://news.bitcoin.com/africa-focused-fintech-chipper-cash-weighs-possible-sale-of-business/ https://news.bitcoin.com/court-dismisses-former-monero-developers-bid-to-have-his-extradition-to-south-africa-declared-illegal/ https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/3/6/online-scam-swindles-egyptians-of-close-to-half-a-million-dollars
Thank you for tuning in.If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating/review.
Sats & Gwei is a Bankless Africa podcast that brings you weekly crypto/web3 headlines about the Africa continent. Stay up to date with the most relevant crypto happenings across Africa.
Disclaimer:None of what is shared in this show is financial advice. Only the opinions of the individuals that make this show possible. Remember to always do your own research.
Follow Bankless Africa on👇🏾
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Join the community👇🏾
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Stay up to date with all things crypto around and beyond Africa 👇🏾
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Thursday Mar 23, 2023
Thursday Mar 23, 2023
The Africa Web3 summit was hosted by Web3 Accra in Ghana on the 23rd of February. This was the place for creators, innovators and enthusiasts in Ghana to connect, ideate and question the very reasons we are in the frontier, and what it could all mean for the African continent. There were a myriad of panels held to this effect, addressing topics on web3, crypto and the concept of Network States; we managed to get some of these panels on recording and have been sharing them with you all from last week, after all, our aim is to inform & educate without gatekeeping.
This next session took on a different format, instead of a panel, we had the pleasure of witnessing Bankless Africa contributor Yoofi Annan host a fireside chat with the Cassava Network co-founder and Adaverse Accelerator Investment Manager Mouloukou Sanoh. The chat covered both the Cassava Network and Adaverse, as well as certain dynamics around the industry that necessitate certain innovations in order to provide a sustainable building block for African creators. It is indeed a great time to be alive, there is so much innovation to be had, and so many capable builders.
The Bankless Africa show highlights projects, ecosystems, and people making an impact and driving crypto adoption across Africa. Get informed on all things bitcoin, Defi, NFTs, web3, and everything in-between.
Disclaimer:
None of what is shared in this show is financial advice. Only the opinions of the individuals that make this show possible. Remember to always do your own research (DYOR).
Follow our Twitter https://twitter.com/Bankless_Africa
Follow us on instagram https://www.instagram.com/bankless_africa/ Follow us on linkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/bankless-africa-799178233 Join us on telegram https://t.me/banklessafrica
Subscribe to our newsletter https://banklessafrica.substack.com/
Learn more about crypto and web 3 on our website https://banklessafrica.com/
Sunday Mar 19, 2023
Sunday Mar 19, 2023
Quick Recap
Blockchain Tech to be used in Nigeria Banking Sector!⚖️
The recently Nigeria elected president has mentioned in a recently released manifesto that he's keen on reviewing the policies of the SEC, as regards digital assets. He plans to allow for the use of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology in the country's financial industry.
Cassava Network to Expand Crypto Adoption in Africa📏
Cassava network has taken yet another step further in its quest to broaden crypto awareness through a recent partnership with Pan African University. PAU will educate students in web 3 and blockchain or write a textbook on the subject and get them ready for the web 3 workplace.
Web3 school launches in Africa🦥
The Cardano-backed accelerator launches a startup school for Web 3 founders in Africa with a focus on founders within the web 3 space. The aim of the school is to provide builders in the web 3 space with sufficient information, understanding, and guidance to maximize their efforts while navigating the African market with a global emphasis.
Blockchain innovators are flocking to Johannesburg!
Since the entry of cryptocurrency into the African continent, countries like South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, and Ghana have seen massive cryptocurrency adoption rates. Citizens across Africa continue to leverage the infrastructure blockchain technology provides in providing efficient payment pathways and means for people to grow their digital assets through yields on investment.
Relevant links
https://cointelegraph.com/news/nigerian-president-elect-aims-to-use-blockchain-technology-in-the-banking-sector
https://techpoint.africa/2023/03/11/adaverse-startup-school-launch/
https://www.africa.com/blockchain-innovators-flock-to-joburg/
https://bitcoinke.io/2023/03/namibia-hit-scams-in-2022-chainalysis/
https://bitcoinke.io/2023/03/introducing-kamusi-dao-project/
Thank you for tuning in.
If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating/review.
Sats & Gwei is a Bankless Africa podcast that brings you weekly crypto/web3 headlines about the Africa continent. Stay up to date with the most relevant crypto happenings across Africa.
Disclaimer:
None of what is shared in this show is financial advice. Only the opinions of the individuals that make this show possible. Remember to always do your own research.
Follow our Twitter https://twitter.com/Bankless_Africa
Follow us on instagram https://www.instagram.com/invites/contact/?i=4zmo4lqcj8rr&utm_content=n74dwjoFollow us on linkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/bankless-africa-799178233Join us on telegram https://t.me/banklessafrica
Subscribe to our newsletter https://banklessafrica.substack.com/
Learn more about crypto and web 3 on our website https://banklessafrica.com/
Friday Mar 17, 2023
Friday Mar 17, 2023
Strap in as we take you on an interesting conversation featuring Yoseph Ayele.
Yoseph is on a mission to create a borderless world. He invests in Web3 and blockchain innovations building the future economic infrastructures in Africa. He is also bridging global Web3 communities with grassroots ecosystems in Africa.
Previously, Yoseph co-founded and ran the Edmund Hillary Fellowship and the Global Impact Visa - a new immigration program that attracted 500+ of the world’s leading entrepreneurs and investors to New Zealand. This program was ran as a startup, through a public private partnership with the New Zealand Government. He also helped grow Inflection, a technology startup in Silicon Valley.
Yoseph grew up in Ethiopia, Tanzania and Kenya. He studied at Harvard, Cambridge, and Victoria University of Wellington
In this episode, we discuss the intersection of web3 and Africa's economic self-determination, with a focus on the potential for decentralization to address the unique challenges and opportunities facing the continent.
Yoseph Ayele led a month-long learning trip to Kenya, Ethiopia, Ghana, and Zambia with a group of prominent figures in the web3 space, including Vitalik Buterin, Aya Miyagotchi, and others.
Throughout their travels, they participated in a wide range of events, meetings, and roundtables, connecting with hundreds of founders, developers, artists, students, DAOists, and community builders. They found that while it is still early days for crypto and web3 adoption in Africa, the pain points that these technologies can solve are immense.
Three key areas where decentralization can make a significant impact include:
Trust intermediaries: In areas where trust intermediaries are weak or non-existent, transaction costs skyrocket.
Simple finance: Communities in Africa are building the basic financial rails for local economies to thrive, including saving, lending, borrowing, insurance, payments, billing, and more. Simple DeFi is better than complex DeFi, as it allows for financial inclusion and addresses major gaps in the current system.
Access to credit: Access to credit for retail and small businesses is an immense gap in Africa, with lenders charging exorbitant interest rates. More attention needs to be paid to this issue, and more brains need to work on it.
In addition to these areas, there are many other projects underway that seek to leverage the unique strengths and challenges of the African context, including the expression of African culture and creativity with NFTs, building incentives for reforestation and climate action, and even the creation of a new digital nation-state.
For Africans to build a borderless economy on-chain, decentralization needs to be affordable and scalable. The Ethereum mainnet has been largely inaccessible, but layer 2s have the potential to change that. However, the Ethereum community has been largely absent in Africa, with antiquated visa requirements preventing Africans from attending global events. To build strong foundations for web3 in Africa, we need more global events on the continent and more investment in local talent and education.
Ultimately, it is Africans who will build the decentralized applications for the 1.4 billion population, and the problems they solve and the variables they optimize for differ greatly from those in the West and Asia. A lot of bottom-up building is happening across Africa, and decentralization offers a real value proposition. We salute all the African builders, educators, community and events organizers, translators, and those educating policymakers who are building the paths for others to walk on.
Disclaimer:
None of what is shared in this show is financial advice. Only the opinions of the individuals that make this show possible. Remember to always do your own research.
Follow our Twitter https://tinyurl.com/2a4p38wv
Follow us on instagram https://tinyurl.com/ykk9yc67
Follow us on linkedIn https://tinyurl.com/5bs7by8h
Join us on telegram https://t.me/banklessafrica
Subscribe to our newsletter https://banklessafrica.substack.com/
Learn more about crypto and web 3 on our website https://banklessafrica.com/
Project/Guest links👇🏾
https://twitter.com/yosephayele
https://ethereum.org/en/
Sunday Mar 12, 2023
Sunday Mar 12, 2023
Bankless Africa presents Sats & Gwei, a podcast for your weekly crypto news update from all around Africa!
Quick Recap
Nigeria 2nd for the most Search Crypto word !⚖️
A Google analysis of the keyword leveraged trading has listed Nigeria as the second-highest nation worldwide for queries involving cryptocurrency leverage. Singapore is the only other country that exceeded Nigeria on the search index with a score of 100, with Nigeria at 94.
Venom X Iceberg Capital has launched $1 billion Funding📏
Venom, a layer one blockchain serving North Africa and other emerging markets, launches its $1 billion fund for Web 3 startups. In recent months, the African web 3 space has been heralded with news of various blockchain giants launching web 3 startup funds. The alliance formed between Venom Foundation and Iceberg Capital will see a joint investment of $1 billion in a number of web 3 startups.
Self-custody wallet to Broaden Crypto adoption in Africa🦥
The third version of the African Web 3 platform, Cassava Network, which focuses on non-fungible tokens, gaming, and loyalty rewards has just been released. This version integrates with the Noncustodial smart contract wallet UNIPASS, which enables users to use e-mail addresses rather than seed phrases.
Six million African Women onboarded into Crypto!
unstoppable women of Web 3 lead an initiative to provide Web 3 metaverse education for six million African women in commemoration of International Women's Day on the 8th of March 2023. The unstoppable Women of Web 3 diversity and Education Group on a mission to level the playing field in web 3, very recently announced its commitment to providing web 3 and metaverse education to 6 million women in Africa over the next five years.
Relevant links
https://news.bitcoin.com/nigerian-crypto-leverage-searches-second-highest-globally-africa-domi
Nates-searches-for-leveraged-trading-products
https://bitcoinke.io/2023/03/venom-ventures-launches-fund-for-web3-startups/
https://bitcoinke.io/2023/03/introducing-the-celo-africa-dao/
https://web3africa.news/2023/03/02/news/ftx-in-africa-a-new-initiative-to-recover-former-glory/
https://cointelegraph.com/news/web3-platform-partners-with-self-custody-wallet-to-broaden-crypto-adoption-in-africa
https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2023/03/08/unstoppable-women-of-web3-leads-initiative-to-provide-web3-metaverse-education-for-6-million-african-women/
https://www.africa.com/metaverse-helps-bring-water-to-africa/
https://circle.com/blog/an-update-on-usdc-and-silicon-valley-bank
Thank you for tuning in.
If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating/review.
Sats & Gwei is a Bankless Africa podcast that brings you weekly crypto/web3 headlines about the Africa continent. Stay up to date with the most relevant crypto happenings across Africa.
Disclaimer:
None of what is shared in this show is financial advice. Only the opinions of the individuals that make this show possible. Remember to always do your own research.
Follow our Twitter https://twitter.com/Bankless_Africa
Follow us on instagram https://www.instagram.com/invites/contact/?i=4zmo4lqcj8rr&utm_content=n74dwjoFollow us on linkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/bankless-africa-799178233Join us on telegram https://t.me/banklessafrica
Subscribe to our newsletter https://banklessafrica.substack.com/
Learn more about crypto and web 3 on our website https://banklessafrica.com/