Africa cryptos; Bias towards home grown solutions

Terence Zimwara

It may seem far-fetched but the use of indigenous names or phrases helps in getting the attention of potential crypto users and nowhere is this more profound than on the African continent.

An innovation will gain quick approval if it is seen to be associated with the local entrepreneurs or the local environment. In Africa there is a general tendency of bias towards what is seen as home grown rather than something completely of foreign origin.

Part of the reason could be Africa’s history of colonialism and how that shapes the perception or attitudes towards ‘foreign made’ products.  

Indeed the language used may have a bearing on the chances of success of a crypto solution. Take South Africa for example, many Zulu and Xhosa people see the Afrikaans language as a reminder of the country’s brutal past. Afrikaans is the language of the country’s white minority.

For Zulus and Xhosa people, the Afrikaans language as an unwelcome Apartheid relic.  Therefore if you are going to target this particular group with any product, it is imperative to use their respective languages. When an innovation or a new product is given an indigenous name, the chances of its success are enhanced.

In other words, African communities will follow or choose what they see as locally created technologies over foreign ones. Of course, such prejudice ignores fundamental factors like the technical capacity of developers in emerging markets when compared with those in crypto leading countries. More importantly, funding can only be raised in the usual places like the UK, US or Japan and not on the African continent. The best way to get around this would be to have the best of both worlds.

For instance, a UK registered start-up which is aptly named KuvaCash, is on course to launch its own crypto wallet and token. The start up’s name which literally means having cash, in the Shona language of Zimbabwe. That name is enough to make ordinary Zimbabweans curious about this crypto wallet.

In addition to the name, KuvaCash’s CEO, James Saruchera, is a Zimbabwean who says he experienced the country’s record hyper inflation first hand. Seeing the pension of his grandparents getting decimated motivated him into creating a solution for his countrymen.

Such an appealing profile enhances the chances of success of this crypto because Zimbabweans/Africans feel that Saruchera is one of them, therefore what he is proposing will help them since he ‘understands’ their problems.

Also following a similar approach is another start-up, Zimbocash which is preparing to launch a token specifically targeting the Zimbabwean market.  Zimbocash’s whitepaper encapsulates the country’s regular fiat currency troubles and how these can potentially be solved by crypto-currency—the Zimbocash crypto in particular.

The start-up has native Zimbabweans as ambassadors on the ground working to create an interest in the crypto. When combined with other factors, such an approach greatly enhances the chances of success of this token.

In Kenya, Bitpesa is a Nairobi based a crypto payments and remittance firm, which is now expanding operations to other countries on the continent as more people embrace the technology. This outfit has enjoyed success because partly it uses a name that resonates with users. The name Bitpesa, is a combination of English and Swahili—the local Kenyan language. Pesa is the Swahili equivalent for money or cash. Bitpesa may have a learnt a thing or two from the wildly popular Mpesa, Kenya’s famous mobile money platform.

Kenyans are proud of their language and that is what may have inspired SafariCom to give its mobile money platform its name.

So start-ups from outside Africa that wish to tap into this market must remember to incorporate local content when designing their innovations. This will enhance the appeal of their solutions.