In today's second episode of Fintech Fridays Special Edition with Binance Africa, we dive deep into the world of blockchain technology and cryptocurrency in Africa.
Adrian hosts an insightful conversation with Samukele Mkhize, Country Compliance Head at Binance Africa. Together, they explore the opportunities and challenges of regulating cryptocurrency on the continent, fostering fintech innovation, and the impact on unbanked populations.
Samukele shares insights on Binance's journey, from its humble beginnings to becoming a global powerhouse with over 200 million users. Tune in as we discuss how blockchain technology can break borders, revolutionize financial ecosystems, and drive Africa towards a digitally inclusive future.
A special thanks to our sponsors, Binance Africa, for supporting this episode.
About Binance
Binance is the world's leading blockchain ecosystem and cryptocurrency infrastructure provider with a financial product suite that includes the largest digital asset exchange by volume. Trusted by millions worldwide, the Binance platform is dedicated to increasing the freedom of money for users and features an unmatched portfolio of crypto products and offerings, including trading and finance, education, data and research, social good, investment and incubation, decentralization and infrastructure solutions, and more. For more information, visit: https://bit.ly/4gbOtZR
Disclaimer: For the avoidance of doubt, the use of the terminology of depositing or withdrawing does not mean that Binance receives, holds, or releases any fiat currency through its platform nor does it contemplate any deposit taking, remittances or similar activity by Binance.
Risk Warning: Digital asset prices are subject to high market risk and price volatility. The value of your investment may go down or up, and you may not get back the amount invested. You are solely responsible for your investment decisions and Binance is not liable for any losses you may incur. Past performance is not a reliable predictor of future performance. You should only invest in products you are familiar with and where you understand the risks. You should carefully consider your investment experience, financial situation, investment objectives and risk tolerance and consult an independent financial adviser before investing. This material should not be construed as financial advice. For more information, see our Terms of Use and Risk Warning.
Episode Agenda
1. Introduction of the Guest
Introduction of Samukele Mkhize
Correct pronunciation of his name
Background and Lineage
Origin of Mhkize family from Congo
2. Discussion Points Overview
Introduction to Fintech Friday special edition in partnership with Binance Africa
Topics to be covered:
Opportunities and challenges for regulating cryptocurrency
Fostering innovation in the Fintech sector across Africa
Attracting investment and African innovation hubs
Use cases and startups
3. Guest's Role and Binance's Journey
Samukele Mkhize
Head of compliance for Binance Africa
Binance's Journey
Initial investment and growth from 15,000,000 USD to 200,000,000 users globally
4. Opportunities and Challenges for Regulating Cryptocurrency
Opportunities
Financial inclusion for unbanked and underbanked populations
Job creation in the tech and finance sectors
Improved remittances
Challenges
Volatility in cryptocurrency
Risks of money laundering
Binance's Approach
Collaboration with governments and policymakers
Crypto regulation strategies: ban, wait and learn, and progressive regulation
5. Practical Use Cases for Blockchain Technology
Ensuring Safety and Compliance
Onboarding standards
Principles against anonymity
Transaction monitoring procedures
Innovative Financial Solutions
Spot products and derivatives
Peer-to-peer trading
6. Fostering Innovation in the Fintech Sector
Mobile Money Integration
Integration with mobile money in countries like Ghana and Uganda
Blockchain Technology for Speed and Security
Immutable transactions on the blockchain
7. Educational Initiatives
Binance Labs
Venture capital arm for fintech startups
Incubation Programs
Collaboration with smaller fintech entities
Consumer Education
Binance Academy as a repository for learning and financial literacy
8. Collaboration and Partnerships
Case Studies
Partnerships with retailers like Pick N Pay in South Africa
Role of Government Regulations
Collaboration with regulators and law enforcement
Contribution to policy formation and training for law enforcement
9. Future Vision and Potential
Digital wallets possibly exceeding traditional banking services
Impact on Trade
Vision of a borderless financial ecosystem in Africa
Timelines for Adoption
Estimated time frame of a decade or more for widespread blockchain adoption
10. Conclusion and Final Remarks
Guest's Final Words
Emphasis on financial inclusion and the importance of consumer education
Vision for blockchain's role in financial services
Contact Info
How to connect with Binance and Samikele Nkise on platforms like LinkedIn and Binance's website
Alright, ladies and gentlemen. So I would like to invite
Speaker:Samukele Mkhize, country compliance
Speaker:head of Binance Africa. Did I pronounce your name
Speaker:correctly? Yes you did. So it's yeah. Samikele
Speaker:Nkise. Samikele Nkise.
Speaker:Beautiful. It's a beautiful South African name, right? Yeah.
Speaker:Beautiful South African name. Yeah. Uh-uh. Really, really beautiful. I mean, I have
Speaker:a a brother who is of course I'm Ghanaian. I've got a brother who has
Speaker:a South African name and his name is Themba. I believe it means
Speaker:hope in, in South African and you know he was named on the
Speaker:back of Nelson Mandela being released so, you know, I I do show the South
Speaker:African love, honestly. I have I'll tell you about
Speaker:myself. I'm actually, so when we trace back our family lineage,
Speaker:we're actually from the Congo, from the DRC. Yeah. Yeah. So, that's
Speaker:where Mkise people actually from, where people I think, apparently, there's
Speaker:a place in the Congo called Ambo, which is where we yeah. That's where we
Speaker:descend from. That is beautiful. Wow. Wow. So you see
Speaker:your whole surname has a whole lineage and history behind it.
Speaker:Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Fantastic. Fantastic. Well, once
Speaker:again, thank you Sam for coming in the show. So welcome to Fintech
Speaker:Friday, a special edition in partnership with Binance Africa. So
Speaker:today we're gonna talk about unlocking the power of Blockchain Technology across African
Speaker:economies. So we're gonna touch upon opportunities and challenges for
Speaker:regulating cryptocurrency, fostering innovation in the Fintech sector
Speaker:across Africa, attracting investment and African
Speaker:innovation hubs and then we're gonna touch on some use cases and some startups that
Speaker:have come out on the back of all of this. So Sam,
Speaker:apart from, you know, discussing names and, you know,
Speaker:countries, you know, how you how you how you how have you been and what
Speaker:have you been up to? Great. So, yeah. So I'm obviously at
Speaker:Binance. I'm the Binance head of compliance for, for the Africa
Speaker:region. It's it's been an amazing journey. I think we've obviously
Speaker:been on a journey of, innovation, collaboration across the continent.
Speaker:You know, really trying to get, or spread the, you know, just the
Speaker:crypto story. You know, our story our story obviously dates back to 7
Speaker:years now. It's actually great, where we literally, and probably
Speaker:from your listeners, we had 15, you know, initial investment of about
Speaker:15,000,000 USD, equivalent. And that's
Speaker:where the crypto journey for for Binance kicks off. I think we're now sitting
Speaker:at, just over 200,000,000 users globally, which is an
Speaker:amazing, an amazing No problem. Over just 7 7 years.
Speaker:Yeah. We've literally got access across the globe. And,
Speaker:we obviously our preoccupation is now telling that good story
Speaker:on the African continent and really spreading, you know you know,
Speaker:driving, practical use cases. I think a lot of people have thought, like, when we
Speaker:speak about crypto, it's something very, you know, very almost
Speaker:abstract. But we are trying to to bring it home, make it, I think
Speaker:we've got great connectivity across the continent and really show how it's breaking
Speaker:borders, with respect to innovation, crypto investment, and
Speaker:spreading the, your your the payments journey. Yeah.
Speaker:Fantastic. I mean, it's quite a time that we're in right now, in terms of,
Speaker:financial adoption, in terms of Africa, in terms of
Speaker:cryptocurrency and the blockchain, and also smartphone
Speaker:adoption. And there's just so many moving parts happening right now.
Speaker:It's a very exciting time that we're in. Okay.
Speaker:Yeah. Alright. Great. So, Sam, this thank you again for coming on on the show.
Speaker:Let's let's go straight into talking about opportunities and challenges,
Speaker:for regulating cryptocurrency on the continent. So I think, really and
Speaker:truly, it's, I think it's a great time in terms of, the opportunities because right
Speaker:now, you know, regulating cryptocurrency in Africa, there's a
Speaker:significant opportunity, but there's also there's also a challenge at the same time. So,
Speaker:you know, it's great for those that are unbanked and underbanked, you
Speaker:know, being having access to cryptocurrency. I mean, the smartphone adoption in Africa
Speaker:is fantastic, which is forming a platform for this to to take place as
Speaker:well. And then also, you know, there's opportunities for jobs, you know,
Speaker:for the tech and the finance to be created. You just mentioned how Binance has
Speaker:grown, you know, over the past few years. And then there's remittance
Speaker:as well, opportunities as well where, you know, it can it can it can form
Speaker:as a it can form as a basis for maybe faster, more
Speaker:secure remittance, etcetera. But at the same time, you know, there is
Speaker:volatility in cryptocurrency and at the same time, you have things
Speaker:such as you know money laundering that could be you know,
Speaker:used in terms of cryptocurrency could be used as a vehicle for money laundering.
Speaker:So as much as there's upsides there can be downsides as well. And
Speaker:I just wanna hear from your perspective Sam, not just in
Speaker:general, but also from Binance by Binance's perspective.
Speaker:What are some of the opportunities and challenges that you see in terms of
Speaker:regulating the crypto on the continent? Maybe just as a preface to
Speaker:our discussion, you know, our philosophy as Binance has always been
Speaker:to, collaborate, with, with governments and,
Speaker:policymakers just with respect to crypto regulation. I think there's obviously always
Speaker:the double edged sword. You know, it's almost the chicken and the egg where you
Speaker:assess what comes first. Is it innovation or regulation? And,
Speaker:really, regulators are faced with 3 key decisions. You
Speaker:either you either ban it, as some jurisdictions have done. You,
Speaker:you wait and learn to understand the market or, and then ultimately,
Speaker:obviously, move towards regulation. And, I think what we've seen, especially on
Speaker:the African continent, is that, there's definitely been that wait and learn
Speaker:approach just to properly understand the market, properly understand its
Speaker:impact. And, you know, that then obviously moves towards,
Speaker:progressive regulation. And that's where I've come in, especially in our team. What
Speaker:we've tried to do on the continent is really spread the word where we've taken
Speaker:learnings from, different jurisdictions. So at the moment, we've actually got licenses
Speaker:in 19 jurisdictions across the world. Wow. With
Speaker:1 obviously also pending in, you know, in South Africa. And what we're trying to
Speaker:do is, really engage regulators, show our best practices that we've,
Speaker:you know, that we've done in, in in other jurisdictions. For instance, you've got
Speaker:things like, onboarding standards, you know, for you made very good men
Speaker:very important mention of the risks of, crypto assets. 1,
Speaker:obviously, being market volatility. Mhmm. Others are then being,
Speaker:especially, you know, from the financial intelligence and anti money laundering
Speaker:perspective being, the various use cases of crypto and how they've
Speaker:got a propensity of being used, for illicit activities.
Speaker:Now what we've tried to do is really, you know, bring home,
Speaker:certain learnings that we've got specifically with respect to our onboarding
Speaker:structures, ensuring, you know, we've obviously got a principle against an
Speaker:you know, anonymity. We don't do, business with clients we don't know.
Speaker:We ensure that, you know, using the wallet addresses, it always goes back to a
Speaker:warm body. We're able to conduct that vetting, up front with
Speaker:respect to our know our client, you know, know your client, know your business
Speaker:procedures. We've also got transaction monitoring procedures in place,
Speaker:which ensure that, you know, as and when we see, onboard
Speaker:already onboarded clients, we're able to appropriately monitor the
Speaker:transactions, flag any suspicious transactions, and
Speaker:just really ensuring that we create a very safe ecosystem. Because,
Speaker:effectively, what we want in order to promote crypto adoption,
Speaker:people need to know that, you know, their funds are safe with you. And that's
Speaker:what we're really trying to do, just ensuring that we've got a safe ecosystem,
Speaker:people able to trade, together. You know, still with that almost,
Speaker:decentralized type feel, where you don't have, you know, a
Speaker:strong regulatory, you know, banking type,
Speaker:relationship. But at the same time, you know, we we we wanna ensure that we
Speaker:don't want crypto assets ending up in, you know, funding, you know, conflict
Speaker:regions or anything like that, or or any illicit activity. You know, we want
Speaker:we still wanna ensure that it's legitimized, and that's why we've actually
Speaker:really pushed for regulation. Just in ensuring that governments are really
Speaker:able to conduct you know, play their role in, in the social
Speaker:compact and ensuring that citizens are effect essentially safe. And then we obviously
Speaker:then drive the innovation and, you know, create the platform for
Speaker:citizens to to engage accordingly. Yeah. That's that's a very
Speaker:powerful statement he made, Stems. I think, you know, as much as,
Speaker:you know, Binance, you know, organisations such as Binance are just doing a
Speaker:fantastic job in terms of, you know, encryption and making sure the platform
Speaker:is safe and there's, you know, and there's, you know, regulations being observed. I think
Speaker:it's also just as important for the for the government to be on board and
Speaker:to collaborate with organisations such as yourself so that everyone
Speaker:wins. So that everyone is able to play their part in making this
Speaker:a safe and regulated, you know, society as far as
Speaker:Fintech and, you know, crypto and blockchain goes. I mean, I I know using
Speaker:the the Binance app. I mean, it's like when you're trying to log in, it's
Speaker:like break trying to break into Fort Knox. I mean, there's like, you get the,
Speaker:you know, the the the factor authentication, and then there's the
Speaker:QR codes, and then there's the KYC as you mentioned. I mean, there there's so
Speaker:many kind of steps you have to go through just to access the account. And,
Speaker:you know, sometimes it may seem like quite a bit of friction, but it's really,
Speaker:really important because of the the day and the age that we're in.
Speaker:Absolutely. And especially, I think what you want is I just wanna give some, you
Speaker:know, just some overall, you know, the stats speed, you know, we've, you know, we've
Speaker:looked at. You're looking at, you know, when we look at West Africa, for example,
Speaker:right, you've got a population in Ghana of about 34,450,000.
Speaker:You'll correct me if I'm wrong. Mhmm. You know, mobile connections, for example, you you're
Speaker:sitting at it's more than that. It's you 38,950,000. That's about a
Speaker:130% of mobile connections, meaning you're dealing with a
Speaker:very clued up populace who, you you know, have got the, the
Speaker:ability to to connect Internet users. It's about 24,600,000.
Speaker:That's about 69.8% of the population. So I
Speaker:think, you know, you know, it's just, you know, the writing's on the wall, meaning
Speaker:that the uptake is definitely there. The capacity to log on is
Speaker:there. And you then have to ensure that, you know, you you
Speaker:you you're providing a safe platform, a platform with the
Speaker:appropriate, encryptions. You know, you've got your your pass
Speaker:keys, multiple, multiple, you know, authenticated factor
Speaker:authentication, which then ultimately really ensures that you've got the
Speaker:ability, you know, you know, that we you know, we don't want a situation where
Speaker:you you wake up and, you know, you you know, your funds are gone. That's
Speaker:definitely not the type of ecosystem we wanna create. It's, it's all about
Speaker:longevity, ensuring that people are able to invest in the market.
Speaker:And then ultimately also leads to a lot of innovation as well. Because
Speaker:once you've able to ensure that you you you get people who are able to
Speaker:onboard, hold crypto, you know, we've also got a lot of other,
Speaker:you know, great products from your spot product to your derivatives products.
Speaker:You know, really, really, you know, really breaking down
Speaker:borders, with respect to, peer to peer type trading.
Speaker:And that's, you know, that's what we're ultimately trying to to, you know, trying to
Speaker:achieve. Yeah. Absolutely. I believe, you know, Binance is doing some
Speaker:great work in in terms of, like, fostering innovation in the Fintech space.
Speaker:Like, I think what Binance is doing right now in Africa
Speaker:with mobile money is is is is pretty fantastic. So now, you
Speaker:know, there is now that integration with Binance and mobile
Speaker:money where, you know, countries like Ghana and Uganda are able to kind of like
Speaker:get into that technology. And I think it kind of, you know, closes that
Speaker:gap between mobile money and the cryptocurrency because I think I had a
Speaker:conversation with, you know, Yandi which is, you know, operations manager from
Speaker:Binance Africa and she was just, you know, talking about how,
Speaker:in terms of like mobile money, I think and spy and
Speaker:cryptocurrency. You know, there's lots of similarities there.
Speaker:And I already feel that, you know, mobile money could
Speaker:transition on to just maybe purely, you know, crypto and Blockchain
Speaker:and, you know, transactions or cross border
Speaker:transactions can even be done a lot quicker and faster because of the, because of
Speaker:the nature of the Blockchain. Yeah. And you you look. If
Speaker:you look at some of the, you know, the, you know, practical use cases, you've
Speaker:seen that people are leveraging towards the blockchain technology. 1, of course, is
Speaker:that, and, you know, touching both on the commercial viability
Speaker:and your, your regulatory environment. Transactions
Speaker:on the blockchain technology are immutable. Right? Meaning that they can never be
Speaker:deleted. They'll always be there. So there'll always be a a source of
Speaker:funds and a trail of funds to ensure that, you know, you know how regulators
Speaker:say they wanna follow the money. You've got the capability with that.
Speaker:Right? And then really importantly, using the, you know, just
Speaker:the speed of the blockchain technology, it really enhances your payments
Speaker:capabilities. You know, it takes them to a new level. I think you're dealing
Speaker:with transactions here literally cross border taking place, you know, within
Speaker:seconds. And that's the ability of the very strong ability
Speaker:of, you know, blockchain technology. What we've done at Binance is that we've
Speaker:also in driving and fostering that innovation, we've obviously got
Speaker:Binance Labs, which is our venture capital arm,
Speaker:which looks at partnering, with Fintech startups and
Speaker:creating various use cases using blockchain technology. So not merely
Speaker:focused on our products, you know, but also driving, the
Speaker:expansion, of the of the technology into other products and, you know, various
Speaker:use cases. Because that's what we're all about. You know, we're all about spreading the
Speaker:word and attempting to really onboard as, you know, you know, your most
Speaker:you you know, your innovators and creating great, great solutions for our
Speaker:clients. What you've then got also very importantly are the
Speaker:incubation programs. Now we we take on, you know, you
Speaker:know, you know, your smaller fintech entities, and attempt to really,
Speaker:again, collaborate with them to create, you know, to create that, you know, those, you
Speaker:know, those client centric solutions. And then but then most
Speaker:importantly, I think the, you know, what we really drive is
Speaker:education, consumer education, because there's no point in us speaking again, you
Speaker:know, figuratively all of these great concepts. But if they if we don't bring
Speaker:them home and, teach people, educate people on on the various use
Speaker:cases of crypto from a very elementary onboarding
Speaker:spot, level to your more complex, you know, you know,
Speaker:your Coptics derivative type product, which is really great. People make a lot of money
Speaker:from that. But, you know, there's no point if we don't teach people that. So
Speaker:what we've done is that we've also got finance academy, which is
Speaker:almost a, repository of, various learning systems.
Speaker:You've got articles which we've published, contributed to,
Speaker:you know, practical, almost learning case studies for people to properly understand how
Speaker:it works. Because I think one of the biggest things we've observed across the continent
Speaker:is that when if we wanna drive financial inclusion, we need to ensure that people
Speaker:are at the right level of financial literacy. And, you know, and it's our
Speaker:responsive social responsibility as entities such as finance to
Speaker:ensuring that we, you know, we drive that type of education. So for people can
Speaker:really have a a buy in and, are able to trade,
Speaker:you know, legitimately and, you know, we we have and, you
Speaker:know, more, with the from an appropriately type of informed, way. And
Speaker:that's it. Yeah. No. That's very, very, very important. I think
Speaker:everyone have an access to education. So, you know,
Speaker:helping, you know, to close that financial inclusion gap is really, really
Speaker:key. I think, you know, we can have all of the technology, the blockchain, the
Speaker:currency there, but if people don't actually know how to use it and actually how
Speaker:to maximize it and all the different use cases, we're not
Speaker:really gonna be able to drive Africa for the way in which we can grow
Speaker:it forward. And I think it's more than just, and I'm glad you highlighted it
Speaker:because it's just more than just being able to, you know, make
Speaker:transactions and allowing the average African
Speaker:citizen to be, you know, to be banked or or or or a
Speaker:bit or have better access to financial resources. But it's
Speaker:also being able to leverage these opportunities to kind of bring Africa out of
Speaker:poverty and to, you know, push Africa forward. I think it's really, really
Speaker:important. And I'm really excited about Binance Labs and what Binance is
Speaker:doing partnering with some of these startups. I mean, you could there's so
Speaker:many startups out there that are leveraging blockchain technology really well like
Speaker:Bitlands, which uses it for, you know, land transactions and then you've
Speaker:got Agri Ledger, you know, which uses it for global food systems and then you
Speaker:have Twiga, which is which is using it for groceries. So,
Speaker:I think that I think it's just clear that the opportunities are limitless
Speaker:and, you know, I I think it's really important as well that there are incubators
Speaker:and there's accelerators and there's education institutions such as yours
Speaker:to help push people forward and to help, you know, startups and
Speaker:entrepreneurs and innovators to, you know, really maximise
Speaker:the Blockchain technology. I mean, it's fantastic what Mess Ghana is doing.
Speaker:IHarp in Kenya is doing and BongoHive in Zambia is doing as well.
Speaker:In terms of Binance, I've got a question in terms of Binance Africa.
Speaker:Do you guys because it's you guys are always adding features to the platform. I
Speaker:think the product roadmap is just fantastic. Does Binance
Speaker:Africa, have plans to perhaps maybe integrate
Speaker:maybe some of the best features or some of the best products that
Speaker:that startups that are produced on the back of Binance Africa's funding
Speaker:to integrate some of the best features or products that they make into the platform.
Speaker:Does that make sense? Yeah. Absolutely. Because ultimately, it's it's all
Speaker:about, you know, essentially collaboration. Right? We take learnings from,
Speaker:very, you know, commercially viable type products. I think, a similar,
Speaker:initiative, for example, has been, in, you know, in South Africa, we've got,
Speaker:you know, partnerships with, in, you know, huge retailers such as Pick N Pay.
Speaker:And, you know, that again, that was it's a strict collaboration with Binance and
Speaker:other, you know, other, you know, other payment service provider type entities,
Speaker:providing the a providing the technology to enable that seamless
Speaker:transaction, where you literally can work it for the morning and you buy a loaf
Speaker:of bread using your crypto. And that's the type of, you know, these are the
Speaker:solutions that we're definitely looking for, where you where you take these solutions,
Speaker:you can really, you know, add them or, you know, to the blockchain
Speaker:type technology, and you're able to utilize them very practically. And it speaks
Speaker:to the practical use cases. And, you know, these are the solutions again. You know,
Speaker:you know, as you've noted, there's so many innovations across the continent. You
Speaker:know, we definitely not, I don't think we are,
Speaker:ignorant to the, you know, to the, use cases of blockchain
Speaker:technology as Africans. And in addition, it really has
Speaker:got the potential to, break down the barriers. You know, we always talk
Speaker:about, you know, this Africa free trade zone and how we wanna almost create of
Speaker:almost you know, we wanna leverage off the population and Yeah. You know, use cases.
Speaker:And I think this is a great opportunity to do so because as soon as
Speaker:you streamline, in payments, and investments, what
Speaker:you're doing is you are ultimately creating almost a a borderless type of financial
Speaker:ecosystem. And once you can achieve that, and you're looking at trade between,
Speaker:you know, I always say, you know, you get trade between Accra, Johannesburg,
Speaker:Harare, Lusaka. That's that's really the dream. Right? And that's what we wanna
Speaker:work towards. And I think, you know, especially when we talk
Speaker:tech, we've always got the, the ability to get
Speaker:caught up in the technical jargon, forgetting about the practical use case that we
Speaker:wanna use it for. And that's what we think we wanna do. So as Binance,
Speaker:that's really the day you know, that's really the journey. It's to, you know, create
Speaker:this type of, you know, partner with, you know, key role players
Speaker:across the fintech industry, ensure that you've got a safe,
Speaker:safe, transparent type ecosystem. You know, you ensure
Speaker:that you also collaborate with regulators. You know, for example, we've got so
Speaker:many we we've obtained so many regulatory requests from various
Speaker:regulators. We've we've partnered over the years, even with
Speaker:law enforcement. We've we've, one conducted trainings, on
Speaker:blockchain technology with law enforcement agencies. And then secondly, we've
Speaker:acted as a very, important source of information, at times,
Speaker:even averting kidnappings, where we're able to, you know, assist you know, you
Speaker:know, really collaborate with authorities in in getting, you know, just in ensuring
Speaker:that they can find the perpetrators. Because, you know, what you're finding is that, because
Speaker:of the nature of blockchain technology, are thinking, you know, this is probably a way
Speaker:out. Whereas oblivious of the fact that the blockchain technology is the technology
Speaker:which which we effectively have control over. We understand how it works, and we can
Speaker:track we can track it down. And that's what we've only you know, we've we've
Speaker:given that information to law enforcement. They've been able to utilize it in the
Speaker:investigation. So I think it's it's it's a really we've really got a good story
Speaker:to tell. And, you know, we just really need to expand that
Speaker:web and work together with regulators, forming those policies
Speaker:that they need. We get those minimum requirements right, and then we and then we
Speaker:and then we fast innovation. I think it's fantastic. It's a beautiful
Speaker:time to be in right now, Sam. I think, when you look at different African
Speaker:countries, they all have their different they all have their own kind of, like, mobile
Speaker:money platforms where there's MTN money and Pesa, etcetera. Vodafone and
Speaker:Cash, whatever will now it's Teleso and Ghana at least. But
Speaker:if that was all eradicated and it was just maybe blockchain or maybe they all
Speaker:were using BNB or maybe they were using stable coins to to, you
Speaker:know, to transact or buy and sell. It would just be so
Speaker:much smoother and quicker and more universal. So I think
Speaker:the key point that you mentioned here is collaboration, collaboration, collaboration.
Speaker:And I'm glad this has been done on the governmental level as well.
Speaker:I mean, I think you've probably seen where Ghana wants to be, you know, the
Speaker:number one, you know, blockchain back to government. You know, I think
Speaker:99% of the government is run on on the digital platform,
Speaker:ghana.gov. So I think we're starting to see so so how how far
Speaker:this this is a question I've got for you. How far do you think are
Speaker:we from having this, what I would say
Speaker:is this, this nirvana of,
Speaker:you know, like financial, you know, everything, everyone's in the same financial
Speaker:platform. Everyone's on the same page in terms of the government,
Speaker:finance, you know, education. Almost everyone had been
Speaker:educated. How how many years do you think do you think we are from seeing
Speaker:all this come together to to make, you know, the blockchain
Speaker:technology, you know, to see really the full potential of the
Speaker:blockchain technology in Africa? Look. I think it's it's it's
Speaker:very difficult to say given that, I think especially even in Africa, the
Speaker:countries aren't necessarily we're not all all on the same level with respect to both
Speaker:up. For example, Ghana. So, you know, you're probably a front runner. But,
Speaker:but, you know, I would say, obviously, you know, over the next decade, you know,
Speaker:just 10 years, that long which is not a long time. It's a long time.
Speaker:You know, you know, we've really got the capabilities of
Speaker:almost standardizing it, you know, across the region. And and you're quite right. You know?
Speaker:So you get a government which is almost I think South Africa as well, where
Speaker:where you there's definitely, attempts to make it, you know, more digitized.
Speaker:But, I think definitely not on the level of blockchain technology at this
Speaker:point in time. But, Yeah. For me, I think we're definitely seeing a
Speaker:more collaborative wave of of, of of policymakers, and
Speaker:they wanna see this work. So, you know, if you, you know, look. It's it's,
Speaker:you know, how long is a piece of string? And I'd say, you know, maybe
Speaker:next week, 15 years. I would love to see it. I definitely
Speaker:see a willingness in, you know, you you I mean, I I you know, I
Speaker:haven't already seen a a particularly hostile type,
Speaker:you know, approach towards it on the continent. I think there's definitely a willingness. The
Speaker:key thing is the learning, and if we if we get the educational part
Speaker:right, we're definitely, on a good journey.
Speaker:Absolutely. I think the building blocks are there for sure. For example, I think by
Speaker:2030, I think 88% of the Ghanaian, population
Speaker:will have smartphone adoption, which is phenomenal. Absolutely
Speaker:phenomenal. So I think when everyone has smartphones, when everyone has access
Speaker:to education, and more and more people are on, you know,
Speaker:are banked. And, you know, and the government is more kind
Speaker:of, based on the blockchain. I think this is when we're really gonna see all
Speaker:of this kind of come together really nicely and be very, very powerful
Speaker:for the whole continent to see.
Speaker:Just before we wrap up, just wanted to ask, do you have any final points
Speaker:or any final words that you wanna make in terms of unlocking the power of
Speaker:blockchain technology across African economies?
Speaker:Look. For me, our motto as as our motto suggests, you know, freedom of
Speaker:money. And we, you know, we really wanna get as many people as we
Speaker:can onto the platform. We've got very, I don't wanna say
Speaker:we have low barriers to entry, but we've got fair barriers to entry. You know?
Speaker:I show you, you know, you you know, if you've got your documentation in place,
Speaker:we're able to appropriately identify you. We're able to give you access to our
Speaker:platform. And I think as we've seen across the continent, I think we've,
Speaker:we've got a heavily a huge unbanked population. And, we
Speaker:we definitely see, blockchain and crypto assets as
Speaker:a as a way around that. Going forward, we, you know, we see, you
Speaker:know, your your wallet or payments type,
Speaker:financial services, growing exponentially, probably far exceeding
Speaker:banking services over the past next next decade or 2,
Speaker:and we wanna be at the helm of that. And how do I how we
Speaker:wanna do that is by ensuring that we integrate all of these initiatives onto the
Speaker:blockchain technology and really drive innovation and growth there.
Speaker:That's a very good point actually in regards to digital wallets exceeding,
Speaker:you know, traditional banks. I think, you know, that industry is certainly
Speaker:being disrupted, the banking industry for sure. And you've seen, you know,
Speaker:platforms like Revolut really emerge and really
Speaker:challenge, you know, the the traditional banks. And, you know, of course, platforms like
Speaker:Binance as well really challenge, you know, the the Fintech and, you know,
Speaker:and banking industry for sure. Sam, these are some fantastic words
Speaker:that you've shared. Thank you for sharing some insights and wisdom with the audience.
Speaker:Just as we, sign out, where can anyone connect with
Speaker:yourself and keep up with what Binance is doing?
Speaker:Yeah. So, look, look, you can actually find, you know, Binance on, you know,
Speaker:Binance web page. There's a lot of information on, Binance there,
Speaker:the different products we've got. Have a look at the Binance Academy. Learn about,
Speaker:Binance. Educate yourself. In addition, me personally, you know, I'm on
Speaker:LinkedIn. I'm I'm always sharing, you know, your foremost,
Speaker:you know, crypto regulations, the work we're doing there, the work
Speaker:I'm doing collaborating with, you know, regulators across the continent,
Speaker:any, you know, media work as well, which is very important. So, yeah, I think
Speaker:there's there's great opportunity to connect. And thank you so much for having me, and
Speaker:thank you for, thank you to your listeners. Likewise. Thank you so much, Sam, for
Speaker:for coming on. So that's it, everyone. That's Sam
Speaker:Mhkize? Right? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's
Speaker:the one. Sam Mhkize, country compliance head of Binance
Speaker:Africa. And, we'll catch you on the next episode. Thank
Speaker:you so much for listening.