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Unlocking the power of Blockchain technology across African economies (Fintech Fridays Special Edition with Binance Africa Ep.2)
Episode 19813th September 2024 • The Sound of Accra Podcast • Adrian Daniels
00:00:00 00:26:19

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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

Transcripts

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Alright, ladies and gentlemen. So I would like to invite

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Samukele Mkhize, country compliance

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head of Binance Africa. Did I pronounce your name

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correctly? Yes you did. So it's yeah. Samikele

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Nkise. Samikele Nkise.

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Beautiful. It's a beautiful South African name, right? Yeah.

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Beautiful South African name. Yeah. Uh-uh. Really, really beautiful. I mean, I have

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a a brother who is of course I'm Ghanaian. I've got a brother who has

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a South African name and his name is Themba. I believe it means

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hope in, in South African and you know he was named on the

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back of Nelson Mandela being released so, you know, I I do show the South

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African love, honestly. I have I'll tell you about

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myself. I'm actually, so when we trace back our family lineage,

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we're actually from the Congo, from the DRC. Yeah. Yeah. So, that's

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where Mkise people actually from, where people I think, apparently, there's

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a place in the Congo called Ambo, which is where we yeah. That's where we

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descend from. That is beautiful. Wow. Wow. So you see

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your whole surname has a whole lineage and history behind it.

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Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Fantastic. Fantastic. Well, once

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again, thank you Sam for coming in the show. So welcome to Fintech

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Friday, a special edition in partnership with Binance Africa. So

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today we're gonna talk about unlocking the power of Blockchain Technology across African

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economies. So we're gonna touch upon opportunities and challenges for

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regulating cryptocurrency, fostering innovation in the Fintech sector

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across Africa, attracting investment and African

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innovation hubs and then we're gonna touch on some use cases and some startups that

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have come out on the back of all of this. So Sam,

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apart from, you know, discussing names and, you know,

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countries, you know, how you how you how you how have you been and what

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have you been up to? Great. So, yeah. So I'm obviously at

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Binance. I'm the Binance head of compliance for, for the Africa

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region. It's it's been an amazing journey. I think we've obviously

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been on a journey of, innovation, collaboration across the continent.

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You know, really trying to get, or spread the, you know, just the

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crypto story. You know, our story our story obviously dates back to 7

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years now. It's actually great, where we literally, and probably

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from your listeners, we had 15, you know, initial investment of about

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15,000,000 USD, equivalent. And that's

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where the crypto journey for for Binance kicks off. I think we're now sitting

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at, just over 200,000,000 users globally, which is an

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amazing, an amazing No problem. Over just 7 7 years.

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Yeah. We've literally got access across the globe. And,

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we obviously our preoccupation is now telling that good story

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on the African continent and really spreading, you know you know,

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driving, practical use cases. I think a lot of people have thought, like, when we

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speak about crypto, it's something very, you know, very almost

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abstract. But we are trying to to bring it home, make it, I think

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we've got great connectivity across the continent and really show how it's breaking

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borders, with respect to innovation, crypto investment, and

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spreading the, your your the payments journey. Yeah.

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Fantastic. I mean, it's quite a time that we're in right now, in terms of,

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financial adoption, in terms of Africa, in terms of

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cryptocurrency and the blockchain, and also smartphone

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adoption. And there's just so many moving parts happening right now.

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It's a very exciting time that we're in. Okay.

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Yeah. Alright. Great. So, Sam, this thank you again for coming on on the show.

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Let's let's go straight into talking about opportunities and challenges,

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for regulating cryptocurrency on the continent. So I think, really and

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truly, it's, I think it's a great time in terms of, the opportunities because right

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now, you know, regulating cryptocurrency in Africa, there's a

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significant opportunity, but there's also there's also a challenge at the same time. So,

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you know, it's great for those that are unbanked and underbanked, you

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know, being having access to cryptocurrency. I mean, the smartphone adoption in Africa

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is fantastic, which is forming a platform for this to to take place as

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well. And then also, you know, there's opportunities for jobs, you know,

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for the tech and the finance to be created. You just mentioned how Binance has

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grown, you know, over the past few years. And then there's remittance

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as well, opportunities as well where, you know, it can it can it can form

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as a it can form as a basis for maybe faster, more

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secure remittance, etcetera. But at the same time, you know, there is

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volatility in cryptocurrency and at the same time, you have things

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such as you know money laundering that could be you know,

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used in terms of cryptocurrency could be used as a vehicle for money laundering.

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So as much as there's upsides there can be downsides as well. And

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I just wanna hear from your perspective Sam, not just in

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general, but also from Binance by Binance's perspective.

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What are some of the opportunities and challenges that you see in terms of

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regulating the crypto on the continent? Maybe just as a preface to

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our discussion, you know, our philosophy as Binance has always been

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to, collaborate, with, with governments and,

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policymakers just with respect to crypto regulation. I think there's obviously always

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the double edged sword. You know, it's almost the chicken and the egg where you

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assess what comes first. Is it innovation or regulation? And,

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really, regulators are faced with 3 key decisions. You

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either you either ban it, as some jurisdictions have done. You,

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you wait and learn to understand the market or, and then ultimately,

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obviously, move towards regulation. And, I think what we've seen, especially on

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the African continent, is that, there's definitely been that wait and learn

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approach just to properly understand the market, properly understand its

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impact. And, you know, that then obviously moves towards,

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progressive regulation. And that's where I've come in, especially in our team. What

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we've tried to do on the continent is really spread the word where we've taken

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learnings from, different jurisdictions. So at the moment, we've actually got licenses

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in 19 jurisdictions across the world. Wow. With

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1 obviously also pending in, you know, in South Africa. And what we're trying to

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do is, really engage regulators, show our best practices that we've,

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you know, that we've done in, in in other jurisdictions. For instance, you've got

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things like, onboarding standards, you know, for you made very good men

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very important mention of the risks of, crypto assets. 1,

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obviously, being market volatility. Mhmm. Others are then being,

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especially, you know, from the financial intelligence and anti money laundering

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perspective being, the various use cases of crypto and how they've

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got a propensity of being used, for illicit activities.

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Now what we've tried to do is really, you know, bring home,

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certain learnings that we've got specifically with respect to our onboarding

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structures, ensuring, you know, we've obviously got a principle against an

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you know, anonymity. We don't do, business with clients we don't know.

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We ensure that, you know, using the wallet addresses, it always goes back to a

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warm body. We're able to conduct that vetting, up front with

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respect to our know our client, you know, know your client, know your business

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procedures. We've also got transaction monitoring procedures in place,

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which ensure that, you know, as and when we see, onboard

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already onboarded clients, we're able to appropriately monitor the

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transactions, flag any suspicious transactions, and

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just really ensuring that we create a very safe ecosystem. Because,

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effectively, what we want in order to promote crypto adoption,

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people need to know that, you know, their funds are safe with you. And that's

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what we're really trying to do, just ensuring that we've got a safe ecosystem,

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people able to trade, together. You know, still with that almost,

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decentralized type feel, where you don't have, you know, a

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strong regulatory, you know, banking type,

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relationship. But at the same time, you know, we we we wanna ensure that we

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don't want crypto assets ending up in, you know, funding, you know, conflict

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regions or anything like that, or or any illicit activity. You know, we want

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we still wanna ensure that it's legitimized, and that's why we've actually

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really pushed for regulation. Just in ensuring that governments are really

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able to conduct you know, play their role in, in the social

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compact and ensuring that citizens are effect essentially safe. And then we obviously

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then drive the innovation and, you know, create the platform for

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citizens to to engage accordingly. Yeah. That's that's a very

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powerful statement he made, Stems. I think, you know, as much as,

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you know, Binance, you know, organisations such as Binance are just doing a

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fantastic job in terms of, you know, encryption and making sure the platform

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is safe and there's, you know, and there's, you know, regulations being observed. I think

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it's also just as important for the for the government to be on board and

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to collaborate with organisations such as yourself so that everyone

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wins. So that everyone is able to play their part in making this

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a safe and regulated, you know, society as far as

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Fintech and, you know, crypto and blockchain goes. I mean, I I know using

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the the Binance app. I mean, it's like when you're trying to log in, it's

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like break trying to break into Fort Knox. I mean, there's like, you get the,

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you know, the the the factor authentication, and then there's the

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QR codes, and then there's the KYC as you mentioned. I mean, there there's so

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many kind of steps you have to go through just to access the account. And,

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you know, sometimes it may seem like quite a bit of friction, but it's really,

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really important because of the the day and the age that we're in.

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Absolutely. And especially, I think what you want is I just wanna give some, you

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know, just some overall, you know, the stats speed, you know, we've, you know, we've

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looked at. You're looking at, you know, when we look at West Africa, for example,

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right, you've got a population in Ghana of about 34,450,000.

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You'll correct me if I'm wrong. Mhmm. You know, mobile connections, for example, you you're

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sitting at it's more than that. It's you 38,950,000. That's about a

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130% of mobile connections, meaning you're dealing with a

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very clued up populace who, you you know, have got the, the

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ability to to connect Internet users. It's about 24,600,000.

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That's about 69.8% of the population. So I

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think, you know, you know, it's just, you know, the writing's on the wall, meaning

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that the uptake is definitely there. The capacity to log on is

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there. And you then have to ensure that, you know, you you

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you you're providing a safe platform, a platform with the

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appropriate, encryptions. You know, you've got your your pass

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keys, multiple, multiple, you know, authenticated factor

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authentication, which then ultimately really ensures that you've got the

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ability, you know, you know, that we you know, we don't want a situation where

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you you wake up and, you know, you you know, your funds are gone. That's

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definitely not the type of ecosystem we wanna create. It's, it's all about

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longevity, ensuring that people are able to invest in the market.

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And then ultimately also leads to a lot of innovation as well. Because

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once you've able to ensure that you you you get people who are able to

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onboard, hold crypto, you know, we've also got a lot of other,

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you know, great products from your spot product to your derivatives products.

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You know, really, really, you know, really breaking down

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borders, with respect to, peer to peer type trading.

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And that's, you know, that's what we're ultimately trying to to, you know, trying to

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achieve. Yeah. Absolutely. I believe, you know, Binance is doing some

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great work in in terms of, like, fostering innovation in the Fintech space.

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Like, I think what Binance is doing right now in Africa

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with mobile money is is is is pretty fantastic. So now, you

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know, there is now that integration with Binance and mobile

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money where, you know, countries like Ghana and Uganda are able to kind of like

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get into that technology. And I think it kind of, you know, closes that

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gap between mobile money and the cryptocurrency because I think I had a

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conversation with, you know, Yandi which is, you know, operations manager from

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Binance Africa and she was just, you know, talking about how,

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in terms of like mobile money, I think and spy and

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cryptocurrency. You know, there's lots of similarities there.

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And I already feel that, you know, mobile money could

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transition on to just maybe purely, you know, crypto and Blockchain

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and, you know, transactions or cross border

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transactions can even be done a lot quicker and faster because of the, because of

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the nature of the Blockchain. Yeah. And you you look. If

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you look at some of the, you know, the, you know, practical use cases, you've

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seen that people are leveraging towards the blockchain technology. 1, of course, is

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that, and, you know, touching both on the commercial viability

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and your, your regulatory environment. Transactions

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on the blockchain technology are immutable. Right? Meaning that they can never be

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deleted. They'll always be there. So there'll always be a a source of

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funds and a trail of funds to ensure that, you know, you know how regulators

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say they wanna follow the money. You've got the capability with that.

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Right? And then really importantly, using the, you know, just

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the speed of the blockchain technology, it really enhances your payments

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capabilities. You know, it takes them to a new level. I think you're dealing

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with transactions here literally cross border taking place, you know, within

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seconds. And that's the ability of the very strong ability

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of, you know, blockchain technology. What we've done at Binance is that we've

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also in driving and fostering that innovation, we've obviously got

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Binance Labs, which is our venture capital arm,

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which looks at partnering, with Fintech startups and

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creating various use cases using blockchain technology. So not merely

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focused on our products, you know, but also driving, the

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expansion, of the of the technology into other products and, you know, various

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use cases. Because that's what we're all about. You know, we're all about spreading the

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word and attempting to really onboard as, you know, you know, your most

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you you know, your innovators and creating great, great solutions for our

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clients. What you've then got also very importantly are the

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incubation programs. Now we we take on, you know, you

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know, you know, your smaller fintech entities, and attempt to really,

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again, collaborate with them to create, you know, to create that, you know, those, you

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know, those client centric solutions. And then but then most

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importantly, I think the, you know, what we really drive is

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education, consumer education, because there's no point in us speaking again, you

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know, figuratively all of these great concepts. But if they if we don't bring

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them home and, teach people, educate people on on the various use

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cases of crypto from a very elementary onboarding

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spot, level to your more complex, you know, you know,

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your Coptics derivative type product, which is really great. People make a lot of money

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from that. But, you know, there's no point if we don't teach people that. So

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what we've done is that we've also got finance academy, which is

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almost a, repository of, various learning systems.

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You've got articles which we've published, contributed to,

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you know, practical, almost learning case studies for people to properly understand how

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it works. Because I think one of the biggest things we've observed across the continent

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is that when if we wanna drive financial inclusion, we need to ensure that people

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are at the right level of financial literacy. And, you know, and it's our

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responsive social responsibility as entities such as finance to

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ensuring that we, you know, we drive that type of education. So for people can

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really have a a buy in and, are able to trade,

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you know, legitimately and, you know, we we have and, you

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know, more, with the from an appropriately type of informed, way. And

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that's it. Yeah. No. That's very, very, very important. I think

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everyone have an access to education. So, you know,

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helping, you know, to close that financial inclusion gap is really, really

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key. I think, you know, we can have all of the technology, the blockchain, the

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currency there, but if people don't actually know how to use it and actually how

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to maximize it and all the different use cases, we're not

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really gonna be able to drive Africa for the way in which we can grow

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it forward. And I think it's more than just, and I'm glad you highlighted it

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because it's just more than just being able to, you know, make

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transactions and allowing the average African

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citizen to be, you know, to be banked or or or or a

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bit or have better access to financial resources. But it's

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also being able to leverage these opportunities to kind of bring Africa out of

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poverty and to, you know, push Africa forward. I think it's really, really

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important. And I'm really excited about Binance Labs and what Binance is

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doing partnering with some of these startups. I mean, you could there's so

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many startups out there that are leveraging blockchain technology really well like

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Bitlands, which uses it for, you know, land transactions and then you've

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got Agri Ledger, you know, which uses it for global food systems and then you

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have Twiga, which is which is using it for groceries. So,

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I think that I think it's just clear that the opportunities are limitless

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and, you know, I I think it's really important as well that there are incubators

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and there's accelerators and there's education institutions such as yours

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to help push people forward and to help, you know, startups and

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entrepreneurs and innovators to, you know, really maximise

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the Blockchain technology. I mean, it's fantastic what Mess Ghana is doing.

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IHarp in Kenya is doing and BongoHive in Zambia is doing as well.

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In terms of Binance, I've got a question in terms of Binance Africa.

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Do you guys because it's you guys are always adding features to the platform. I

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think the product roadmap is just fantastic. Does Binance

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Africa, have plans to perhaps maybe integrate

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maybe some of the best features or some of the best products that

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that startups that are produced on the back of Binance Africa's funding

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to integrate some of the best features or products that they make into the platform.

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Does that make sense? Yeah. Absolutely. Because ultimately, it's it's all

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about, you know, essentially collaboration. Right? We take learnings from,

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very, you know, commercially viable type products. I think, a similar,

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initiative, for example, has been, in, you know, in South Africa, we've got,

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you know, partnerships with, in, you know, huge retailers such as Pick N Pay.

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And, you know, that again, that was it's a strict collaboration with Binance and

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other, you know, other, you know, other payment service provider type entities,

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providing the a providing the technology to enable that seamless

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transaction, where you literally can work it for the morning and you buy a loaf

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of bread using your crypto. And that's the type of, you know, these are the

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solutions that we're definitely looking for, where you where you take these solutions,

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you can really, you know, add them or, you know, to the blockchain

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type technology, and you're able to utilize them very practically. And it speaks

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to the practical use cases. And, you know, these are the solutions again. You know,

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you know, as you've noted, there's so many innovations across the continent. You

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know, we definitely not, I don't think we are,

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ignorant to the, you know, to the, use cases of blockchain

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technology as Africans. And in addition, it really has

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got the potential to, break down the barriers. You know, we always talk

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about, you know, this Africa free trade zone and how we wanna almost create of

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almost you know, we wanna leverage off the population and Yeah. You know, use cases.

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And I think this is a great opportunity to do so because as soon as

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you streamline, in payments, and investments, what

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you're doing is you are ultimately creating almost a a borderless type of financial

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ecosystem. And once you can achieve that, and you're looking at trade between,

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you know, I always say, you know, you get trade between Accra, Johannesburg,

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Harare, Lusaka. That's that's really the dream. Right? And that's what we wanna

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work towards. And I think, you know, especially when we talk

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tech, we've always got the, the ability to get

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caught up in the technical jargon, forgetting about the practical use case that we

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wanna use it for. And that's what we think we wanna do. So as Binance,

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that's really the day you know, that's really the journey. It's to, you know, create

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this type of, you know, partner with, you know, key role players

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across the fintech industry, ensure that you've got a safe,

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safe, transparent type ecosystem. You know, you ensure

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that you also collaborate with regulators. You know, for example, we've got so

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many we we've obtained so many regulatory requests from various

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regulators. We've we've partnered over the years, even with

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law enforcement. We've we've, one conducted trainings, on

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blockchain technology with law enforcement agencies. And then secondly, we've

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acted as a very, important source of information, at times,

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even averting kidnappings, where we're able to, you know, assist you know, you

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know, really collaborate with authorities in in getting, you know, just in ensuring

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that they can find the perpetrators. Because, you know, what you're finding is that, because

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of the nature of blockchain technology, are thinking, you know, this is probably a way

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out. Whereas oblivious of the fact that the blockchain technology is the technology

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which which we effectively have control over. We understand how it works, and we can

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track we can track it down. And that's what we've only you know, we've we've

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given that information to law enforcement. They've been able to utilize it in the

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investigation. So I think it's it's it's a really we've really got a good story

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to tell. And, you know, we just really need to expand that

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web and work together with regulators, forming those policies

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that they need. We get those minimum requirements right, and then we and then we

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and then we fast innovation. I think it's fantastic. It's a beautiful

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time to be in right now, Sam. I think, when you look at different African

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countries, they all have their different they all have their own kind of, like, mobile

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money platforms where there's MTN money and Pesa, etcetera. Vodafone and

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Cash, whatever will now it's Teleso and Ghana at least. But

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if that was all eradicated and it was just maybe blockchain or maybe they all

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were using BNB or maybe they were using stable coins to to, you

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know, to transact or buy and sell. It would just be so

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much smoother and quicker and more universal. So I think

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the key point that you mentioned here is collaboration, collaboration, collaboration.

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And I'm glad this has been done on the governmental level as well.

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I mean, I think you've probably seen where Ghana wants to be, you know, the

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number one, you know, blockchain back to government. You know, I think

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99% of the government is run on on the digital platform,

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ghana.gov. So I think we're starting to see so so how how far

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this this is a question I've got for you. How far do you think are

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we from having this, what I would say

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is this, this nirvana of,

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you know, like financial, you know, everything, everyone's in the same financial

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platform. Everyone's on the same page in terms of the government,

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finance, you know, education. Almost everyone had been

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educated. How how many years do you think do you think we are from seeing

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all this come together to to make, you know, the blockchain

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technology, you know, to see really the full potential of the

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blockchain technology in Africa? Look. I think it's it's it's

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very difficult to say given that, I think especially even in Africa, the

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countries aren't necessarily we're not all all on the same level with respect to both

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up. For example, Ghana. So, you know, you're probably a front runner. But,

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but, you know, I would say, obviously, you know, over the next decade, you know,

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just 10 years, that long which is not a long time. It's a long time.

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You know, you know, we've really got the capabilities of

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almost standardizing it, you know, across the region. And and you're quite right. You know?

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So you get a government which is almost I think South Africa as well, where

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where you there's definitely, attempts to make it, you know, more digitized.

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But, I think definitely not on the level of blockchain technology at this

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point in time. But, Yeah. For me, I think we're definitely seeing a

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more collaborative wave of of, of of policymakers, and

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they wanna see this work. So, you know, if you, you know, look. It's it's,

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you know, how long is a piece of string? And I'd say, you know, maybe

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next week, 15 years. I would love to see it. I definitely

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see a willingness in, you know, you you I mean, I I you know, I

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haven't already seen a a particularly hostile type,

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you know, approach towards it on the continent. I think there's definitely a willingness. The

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key thing is the learning, and if we if we get the educational part

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right, we're definitely, on a good journey.

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Absolutely. I think the building blocks are there for sure. For example, I think by

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2030, I think 88% of the Ghanaian, population

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will have smartphone adoption, which is phenomenal. Absolutely

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phenomenal. So I think when everyone has smartphones, when everyone has access

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to education, and more and more people are on, you know,

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are banked. And, you know, and the government is more kind

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of, based on the blockchain. I think this is when we're really gonna see all

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of this kind of come together really nicely and be very, very powerful

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for the whole continent to see.

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Just before we wrap up, just wanted to ask, do you have any final points

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or any final words that you wanna make in terms of unlocking the power of

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blockchain technology across African economies?

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Look. For me, our motto as as our motto suggests, you know, freedom of

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money. And we, you know, we really wanna get as many people as we

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can onto the platform. We've got very, I don't wanna say

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we have low barriers to entry, but we've got fair barriers to entry. You know?

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I show you, you know, you you know, if you've got your documentation in place,

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we're able to appropriately identify you. We're able to give you access to our

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platform. And I think as we've seen across the continent, I think we've,

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we've got a heavily a huge unbanked population. And, we

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we definitely see, blockchain and crypto assets as

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a as a way around that. Going forward, we, you know, we see, you

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know, your your wallet or payments type,

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financial services, growing exponentially, probably far exceeding

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banking services over the past next next decade or 2,

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and we wanna be at the helm of that. And how do I how we

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wanna do that is by ensuring that we integrate all of these initiatives onto the

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blockchain technology and really drive innovation and growth there.

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That's a very good point actually in regards to digital wallets exceeding,

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you know, traditional banks. I think, you know, that industry is certainly

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being disrupted, the banking industry for sure. And you've seen, you know,

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platforms like Revolut really emerge and really

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challenge, you know, the the traditional banks. And, you know, of course, platforms like

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Binance as well really challenge, you know, the the Fintech and, you know,

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and banking industry for sure. Sam, these are some fantastic words

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that you've shared. Thank you for sharing some insights and wisdom with the audience.

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Just as we, sign out, where can anyone connect with

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yourself and keep up with what Binance is doing?

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Yeah. So, look, look, you can actually find, you know, Binance on, you know,

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Binance web page. There's a lot of information on, Binance there,

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the different products we've got. Have a look at the Binance Academy. Learn about,

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Binance. Educate yourself. In addition, me personally, you know, I'm on

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LinkedIn. I'm I'm always sharing, you know, your foremost,

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you know, crypto regulations, the work we're doing there, the work

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I'm doing collaborating with, you know, regulators across the continent,

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any, you know, media work as well, which is very important. So, yeah, I think

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there's there's great opportunity to connect. And thank you so much for having me, and

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thank you for, thank you to your listeners. Likewise. Thank you so much, Sam, for

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for coming on. So that's it, everyone. That's Sam

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Mhkize? Right? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's

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the one. Sam Mhkize, country compliance head of Binance

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Africa. And, we'll catch you on the next episode. Thank

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you so much for listening.

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