On the fourth edition of Fintech Friday, we're diving into the exciting world of cryptocurrency adoption in one of Africa's leading countries, Ghana. In this episode, we'll explore how Ghana has emerged as a fast-growing economy and a hub for technology and startups, with a notable surge in smartphone adoption. We'll also delve into the results of a recent Binance and Pulse survey, revealing Ghana’s position as a front-runner in cryptocurrency and blockchain adoption on the continent. Join us as we discuss the potential impact of this trend on Ghana's financial landscape and what it means for the future of digital finance in Ghana.

Quote from Operations Manager of Binance Africa, Yande Nomvete:

“Our pulse survey really underscores how Ghana is embracing blockchain technology and how open they are to engaging on the topic,” says Yande Nomvete, Operations Manager for Binance in Africa. “The quiz achieved more than 20,000 impressions with a reach of more than 20,000 users over a three-day period, which is exceptional.”

The quiz was designed to unpack some of the core beliefs and understandings held by users in the region. From asking how important it is to have financial literacy in the context of cryptocurrency to unpacking how cryptocurrency can positively impact financial adoption in Africa, the survey prioritised core issues affecting companies and consumers. More than 50% of respondents believed that the significance of financial literacy in the context of cryptocurrency meant having an understanding of market trends, avoiding investment scams, and making informed decisions, highlighting a deep awareness of the rigour required to make the right investment choices with this currency.

More than 70% of respondents believe that cryptocurrency can positively impact financial inclusion in Africa by fostering innovation in the fintech sector and promoting economic growth, and yet the vast majority (more than 70%) are aware that using cryptocurrency requires vigilance and an awareness of security protocols.

“It was impressive how many respondents chose the correct security answers to questions around best security practices and approaches,” says Nomvete. “For example, when asked what was not a recommended security practice for cryptocurrency users, more than 70% said sharing private keys with friends. Users in the region also immediately identified the importance of anti-money laundering (AML) best practices in mitigating fraud, and the value of doing extensive research into reputable cryptocurrency exchanges before handing over their funds (60%).”

Ghana has a solid understanding of cryptocurrencies and the importance of building up a portfolio with a trusted service provider that has a reliable and proven reputation. Binance is determined to play a role in driving the adoption of trusted, reliable, and accessible cryptocurrency to the global market. Understanding the importance of crypto and how it can benefit the economy is key to ensuring growth, and working with a platform that prioritises security is essential to building a thriving portfolio. Binance has strict protocols, follows industry-leading technical measures, provides advanced data privacy tools, and has embedded security into the foundations of the organisation.

“Our understanding of the market wedded to the impressive cryptocurrency savvy of Ghanaian users equals long-term success for investors in this country,”

Reference links from today's episode:

https://watra.org/ghana/

Household survey on ICT in Ghana

Pulse Ghana article on Binance survey

Interview with Carlita Cash on The Sound of Accra Podcast on Ghana's Emerging blockchain market

Interview with Eric Annan from Aya on the future of Web3 and the Blockchain in Africa

Connect with Binance and Yande

Visit Binance Africa: https://www.instagram.com/binanceafrica_/

Connect with Yande on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yande-nomvete/ 

Visit Binance website: https://www.binance.com/ 

Timestamps

00:00 Ghana leads Africa in economy, peace, democracy, technology

04:46 Binance invests heavily in creating a robust and credible platform

Let us know your thoughts! Join the conversation on our Social Media handles @thesoundofaccra on all platforms and @thesoundofaccrapodcast for TikTok and YouTube!

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Ghana is a leader in Africa for many things in the world. Okay? For

instance, Ghana leads Africa in being arguably one of the

world's fastest growing economies, is also one of the most

peaceful countries in Africa. And being the 1st sub

Saharan African country to receive independence in 1957

is also not a small feat at all. It's also one of the

biggest exports of cocoa in Africa and the world.

In West Africa, Ghana is one of the most stable democracies and is even one

of the leaders of the West African political and economic union,

ECOWAS, right? Now in recent years, Ghana's

technology and start up scene, you know, has started to emerge. I

mean you see the likes of Google and Twitter send up HQs

in the capital Accra, even though now Twitter HQs left

the the country sadly. But still, Google has a presence.

And then you even have events such as Tech in Ghana, you know, have such

a presence in Africa and the world. But one thing which is starting

to take the nation by storm is cryptocurrency. Ghana is a

country which has a relatively high smartphone adoption rate. And

even as of 2024, the smartphone adoption rate in Ghana is

approximately 46.1%, with about 15,600,000

smartphone users reported in 2020. Now this figure

indicates a significant presence of smartphones among the population,

reflecting the growing trend towards mobile connectivity. Thanks

to statistics from Ghanaian government and also

Watra for this fact. Now the more

Ghanaians have smartphones, the more access they will have to wealth creation

technology ultimately such as cryptocurrency.

Now moving on, Binance, the world's biggest Bitcoin

exchange and Altcoin crypto exchange platform by Voluum, released the

results of a Binance and Pulse survey, which discovered that Ghana is at the

forefront of cryptocurrency and blockchain adoption on the continent.

Now this is after Ghana ranked 9th place out of 27 countries in

Africa that have adopted the cryptocurrency. This is absolutely

fantastic. Now the survey results were taken from 20,000

people in Ghana who took the survey. And out of those 20,000

people, it just shows that they are all aware of

cryptocurrency in a developing country. And the fact that this

is the case is huge, it's massive. Now this is

a huge stride in growth in crypto adoption in Ghana, but also,

this also reflects the huge promise that cryptocurrency will have in the country.

Now, Golar said he's no stranger to cryptocurrencies. I mean, as you've heard me

mention in previous episodes, that the government even wants to consider launching

their own digital city, which is a central bank digital

currency. Now in addition, I've also interviewed crypto

evangelists such as Carlita Cash from Canada, whose mission is to

help increase crypto adoption across Africa and especially in

Ghana. I'm even speaking to Eric Annan, whose startup has

been backed by the likes of certain crypto exchanges and

even helps to co run blockchain and web free based meetups in

Accra for developers and tech enthusiasts. You can listen to

a past episode where I discuss my experience at one of their

meetups back in February. Now let's not even forget the

African Bitcoin conference, which has been held in a crowd for the

past 2 years. And this is attracted to the likes of Jack Dorsey,

who's really big in the blockchain and cryptocurrency space.

Now here's a few words from Yandi Nomeveti,

operations manager for Binance Africa. This is what she's had to say

on the back of the survey, who we've also spoken to in the Sound of

Crowd podcast. You guys can go and check out the episode. It's out right

now. So Yandi says, our pulse survey really

underscores how Ghana is embracing blockchain technology and how open

they are to engaging on the topic. The quiz achieved more

than 20,000 impressions with a reach of more than 20,000 users

over a 3 day period, which is exceptional. Our understanding

of the market, whether it's to the impressive cryptocurrency savvy of

Ghanaian users equals long term successful investors in this country.

So those were a few words from, from the

survey. And I will leave a link to the full article so you can see

everything that she said. Now it's clear that garnish

showing high level of cryptocurrency and blockchain understanding. I

mean, having spoken to Yandi on the podcast from Binance

Africa, it's clear that they are determined to play a role in driving

this growth and transform the economy in such developing

countries. Now Binance Africa also plays a

key role in educating users on the importance of crypto and how it can

benefit themselves and the economy With the abundance of educational

resources it has on its mobile app and platforms. Binance

has made a lot of investment into making its platform super robust,

credible, and free from privacy flaws. They've also invested a

lot of money in terms of raising awareness of their platforms around

the world. I mean, I've been to conferences like Web Summit in Portugal,

Lisbon, and I've seen Binance there. I mean, they're all over the place,

and they are really passionate about educating

the users and the world on blockchain and cryptocurrency. And

it's no wonder why many Ghanaians use the platform today to buy,

sell, hold, and even trade cryptocurrency and learn about the

blockchain. So what do you guys think about Ghanaian's renewed

attitude to crypto today compared to years back,

especially when many Ghanaians began to turn to cryptocurrency

during times of turmoil such as the lockdowns? Are

we heading into a golden era in regards to

digital finance in the nation becoming more of an emerging

crypto leader on the continent? Reach out to

us on social media. Just search for The Sound of Accra Podcast on

Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, and Twitter. You can also drop

us an email info at the sound of crowd dot com. You can also visit

our website www.thesoundofaccra.com. You can hit the

contact us button, and we'd love to hear from you. So that's it for

today's Fintech Friday episode, guys. We look forward to hearing from you. You've been

amazing. If you've got to the end of this episode, I've been Adrian

Daniels. Take care. God bless. And we'll see you in the next

one.