Africans despite obvious limitations have been spearheading the integration of blockchain technology in unusual ways. A new report released in 2023 shows more African countries are utilizing the Ripple ecosystem and its native token XRP to a large extent. Termed the "African Blockchain Report 2022," a CV VC did it in collaboration with South Africa's Standard Bank.
The report shows that as many as 13 countries in Africa are already using Ripple to make crypto transactions. It was released by the end of April 2023 but has remained largely unnoticed by the Ripple community. Reading through it shares an outlook of crypto-friendly African countries and how they have steadily embraced the Ripple ecosystem. The ingenuity of blockchain integration in Africa even occurs in areas without electricity.
The report states that the Ripple ecosystem allows them to make financial transactions easily. The benefits of using the Ripple ecosystem in most African countries are overwhelming, leading to a growing trend of users. Since most of Africa still lacks digital payment providers, it can open opportunities for others like Ripple to become significant stakeholders. The potential of digital payment is still largely untapped in the continent, allowing platforms like Ripple to increase their user base. By 2025, electronic payments revenue is expected to increase by more than 20% to about $30 billion.
Since there are gaps in Africa's financial sector, it leaves many people to be largely unbanked. This also leaves opportunities for crypto-related digital payment providers like Ripple to have a shot at getting more users. Ripple adoption in Africa also contributes to the crypto industry, adding up to the overall rate of crypto adoption in the continent.
According to the report, only about 10% of the payments made in Africa are digital. So crypto solutions like Ripple are taking advantage of this situation to push their brands in crypto-friendly countries in Africa. They do this by reducing the fees users give to pay while making transactions on their platforms. In Africa, the price for making digital payments is reduced by 6.3% to 8.4%.
Ripple Well Positioned in Africa
The report also states that Ripple has gotten more positioned in Africa than most crypto firms. The crypto firm is already making giant strides by expanding to Africa's West, East, North, and Southern parts. Some countries where Ripple already has their footprints include Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Egypt, Ghana, Kenia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Togo, and Uganda.
"Ripple's payments solution, On-Demand Liquidity, enables organizations to settle global payments in real-time at a fraction of the cost without tying up working capital in destination accounts. By leveraging the digital asset XRP as a bridge currency, funds can be sent and received in local currency on either side of a transaction," the report said.
The report also states that Ripple is broadening their services by collaborating with other fintechs. This collaboration is helping Ripple to make payments faster and improve their services.
"As digital payments innovation and crypto adoption broaden, Ripple is partnering with local financial institutions and fintech to bring the benefits of better cross-border remittances to the region, including regional payment interoperability and seamless money movement across the continent," the report added.