Banking the Unkanked is the most important application for digital currencies in Africa - FinTech

The year 2020 could certainly be considered the year, in which blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies in particular are generally recognized. The movement restrictions and the widespread fear of infecting themselves with a virus forced many to look for alternative payment or transfer paths. This search for an alternative inevitably led to crypto. Although the use of such alternatives to Fiat bargain is still increasing, many of the intended beneficiaries in countries like Africa are still unable to use such digital currencies.

Kenya Kotani Pay fixes the lack of crypto access

The lack of smartphones, misinformation about cryptocurrencies and poor network connectivity are some of the main reasons why the number of users of digital currencies do not grow, as some crypto supporters would have liked. As a result, some actors in this area are now working hard to find solutions to help them that cannot currently use digital currencies.

One of these actors is Kotani Pay, a fintech start-up based in Kenya that focuses on providing a reliable blockchain-on-ramp and off-ramp service for users in Africa. Bitcoin.com News recently contacted the CMO of the start-up, Brian Kimotho, to learn more about Kotani's offer. Below you will find Kimotho's written answers to questions sent via WhatsApp.

Bitcoin.com News (BCN): When was Kotani Pay founded and why?

brain-kimotho (BK): Kotani Pay was founded in 2020. We built Kotani Pay after we had recognized for a very long time that the people who should benefit most from the promises of blockchain and web3 technologies had no opportunity to interact with the services offered. Most of these users have no smartphone or an internet connection. You only have feature phones. You can only communicate via SMS or telephone. Against this background, Kotani Pay was developed. In order to access the service, only the Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) code has to be selected. After choosing, the user is shown a simple menu in which he can make his preferred selection - send money, withdraw ...

BCN: You are currently committed to providing the so -called universal basic income (UBI) for refugees. Can you tell our readers what motivated your company to get involved here?

BK: The care of the refugees in cooperation with Impact Market, Refugee Integration Organization and Mission Possible 2030 was our goal of making web3 technologies accessible to the last mile. In Africa, for example, the total number of mobile phone users is 700 million. Of these 700 million users, only 260 million internet -capable smartphones have. By projects such as the UBI for refugees, Kotani Pay is able to achieve its goals, to strengthen the remaining 440 million people who use feature phones.

BCN: How many refugees benefit from this UBI initiative?

BK: 2000 with another 4000 in the pipeline.

BCN: On your website you praise Kotani Pay as "Africa's most reliable blockchain ramp and off-ramp service". In how many countries do you offer this service exactly?

BK: The Kotani Pay USSD service is operated by the Kotani Application Programming Interface (API). With this API, companies can integrate their processes into our off-ramp service to operate users of mobile phones (smartphones and feature phones) in Africa.

BCN: What is the most important application for digital currencies in Africa in your view?

BK: banking of the non -banks.

BCN: You offer an on-ramp and off-ramp service on a continent on which most countries have either banned or restricted digital currencies. How do you manage to provide this service and yet not to violate the regulations in the countries in which you work?

BK: We adhere to the Payments Services Act and the banking regulations in Kenya. We work via Banking APIs, which are regulated by the Central Bank of Kenya for the AML/Kyc due diligence of users. In addition, we offer the service that uses stable coins in the Celo network that are linked to the value of dollars and euros. The stable coins are underlaid by other verifiable assets, which means that they are less volatile compared to price fluctuations.

BCN: Countries such as Ghana and Nigeria are planning the introduction of digital central bank currencies (CBDC), while many other countries are planning this in the near future. In your opinion, are CBDCs something that the crypto industry should be afraid of?

bk: no, CBDCs are nothing that we should be afraid of. The CBDC application shows the possibilities of Web3 and Blockchain. CBDCs offer several advantages, including low entry barriers for users, lower costs for coin embossing as well as low costs for cross -border and inter -bank transactions.

What do you think about this interview? Tell us your opinion in the comment area below.

Bedy verification : Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons