By Will McCurdy
3 min read
Telegram-based crypto communities grew by 183% in Africa between the beginning of 2023 and August 2024.
Looking forward, the report commissioned by cryptocurrency exchange Bitget predicted that the cryptocurrency market in Africa will reach 54 million users by 2025, with Nigeria and South Africa taking the lead in terms of users.
The report pointed towards “economic instability, limited access to banking services, the large number of tech-savvy youth” as some of the reasons behind the eye-popping growth of crypto in Africa.
Meanwhile, the growth of these Telegram communities in Western Europe has been far more modest according to the research, growing only 11% during the study period. The report chalked this up to much stricter regulations and a more mature market for financial services.
The population of many African countries tends to be much younger than most developed Western or East Asian Nations, which could fuel crypto adoption.
The median age in Nigeria and Kenya is roughly 19 and 21, respectively, as per FBI statistics, compared to 39 in the United States, and almost 50 in Japan.
Many consumers in Sub-Saharan Africa are also drawn into cryptocurrency communities as a result of local economic stability, such as unstable tax regimes or low local salaries.
A 28-year-old Kenyan protestor told Decrypt in July he thinks that engaging in crypto projects can be more lucrative than traditional employment, in the country where average incomes are roughly $634.
These types of activities include farming airdrops, engaging with token giveaways, creating content for meme coin marketing, or using play-to-earn games.
Preexisting knowledge of mobile money apps may also play a big part in the widespread adoption. The protestor explained how the majority of Kenyans will have used the mobile money app M-PESA for their transfers, meaning using crypto apps isn’t too much of a step up.
However, the skyrocketing popularity of cryptocurrency in some countries such as Nigeria has brought some government attention.
In March 2024, the Nigerian government demanded the arrest of many top execs at crypto exchanges such as Binance, after alleging that they had established the country's local currency the Naira, and enabled financial crimes and money laundering.
Binance executive Tigran Gambaryan was held in Nigeria for eight months, after being arrested in February and released last week due to health concerns.
Edited by Stacy Elliott.
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