Kenya Primed For Wide-Scale Bitcoin Adoption

Guest Post: Kenya Primed For Wide-Scale Bitcoin Adoption By Noel Jones

June 12 2013

http://www.thegenesisblock.com/guest-post-kenya-primed-for-wide-scale-bit-oin-adoption/

As we witness bitcoin's continued growth around the world, one loc=le stands out as particularly primed for widespread adoption: Kenya. Africa=today has one of the fastest growing mobile phone markets in the world with=20% annual growth and 93% of Kenyan households owning mobile phones. What m=kes Kenya a particularly unique case for bitcoin is that it is also a world=leader in mobile payment usage.

In 2007, Safaricom, one of Kenya's leading telecommunications comp=nies, launched a mobile payment service called M-PESA. Today, two thirds of=Kenyans use the service and more than 30% of Kenya's GOP flows thro=gh it. The benefits to the Kenyan population are astounding as well, with M=PESA's rural adopters often seeing dramatic income increases after a=opting the program. Such incredible growth has piqued the interest of some b=g names in the technology sector as well.

Africa's Ballooning Tech Presence

"The Internet in Africa will be primarily a mobile one." s=id Eric Schmidt, Executive Chairman of Google. Google has alluded to plans f=r building technical infrastructure in Kenya and other parts of Africa, inc=uding the potential use of wifi blimps or weather balloons to provide inter=et service. They further elaborated in a blog post earlier this year about t=e technology that its, "Well-suited to provide low cost connectivit= to rural communities with poor telecommunications infrastructure, and for e=panding coverage of wireless broadband in densely populated urban areas. =80 Google is also making moves in the digital payment arena. They recent=y introduced attaching Google Wallet payment in emails and announced an inv=stment from Google Ventures in OpenCoin Inc.—the company behind Rip=le, a new digital ledger technology with similarities to Bitcoin.

Google isn't the only entity preparing for major moves in Africa. C=ina has been investing in Africa substantially for the last decade and is a=major shareholder in much of the African telecom industry. With the telecom=industry in Africa booming and Kenya targeting 100% internet penetration by=2017, change is on the horizon.