For the past two months, I have attended the Bitcoin Cape Town Conference in South Africa and the African Bitcoin Conference in Kenya. We also visited Bitcoin Circular Economy in both these countries, including Bitcoin Ekasi, Afribit Kibera and Bitcoin Witsand.
These experiences have turned to the fact that developers, community leaders and everyday gospels across Africa use the power of Bitcoin to catalyze changes in their lives.
Bitconner's Manifesto in Africa
In “The Manifesto of Cypherpunk,” Eric Hughes wrote:
“cypherpunks writes code. We know that someone has to write software to protect privacy. And we can't get privacy unless we all do so, so we write it. We're going to publish the code so our fellow cypherpunks can practice and play with it. Our code is free for all use in the world. We write If we don't approve the software we have, we don't care much. We know that software cannot be destroyed and that we cannot shut down widely distributed systems.”
This is what African builders are building. And while not all builders on the continent write code, they all do as much work as possible without asking for permission.
So I attended the Bitcoin Conference in Africa and visited Bitcoin DUA based on what I saw in Africa on my two recent trips to the continent and my trip to Ghana in the second half of 2023. Hughes' manifesto might read something like this:
“African Bitcoiner just builds things with Bitcoin. With all the promises from NGOs and governments lacking, someone knows they have to step up to enact change. We publish the work proof online so that fellow African bitcoiners can use it as models and adapt to their own context. Our work proof and/or code is African All over the world and across its borders, they are free to replicate. They do not seek approval from the authorities. But if they see value in our projects or vision, we work with them. I don't disagree with that. Our work takes advantage of the invariant, incapable nature of Bitcoin and the insatiable nature of human mind, so we cannot stop or stop it.”
Below are examples of projects that embody such a spirit.
Bitcoin Ekasi
Bitcoin Ekasi is one of the most illustrious symptoms in Africa in Cypherpunk and Bitcoin spirit. Launched in 2021 and based in the Mossel Gulf of South Africa, the project is a model for the Bitcoin circular economy across Africa.
Founded by Hermann Vivier (one of the organizers who hired Bitcoin Cape Town), the project aimed at two things. They raised funds for Bitcoin, a nonprofit organization founded by Vivier, and turned the community's onboard store into Bitcoin. (Project community leader Luthando Ndabambi has been brilliantly doing the latter over the years.)
The purpose of the second aspect of the mission was to allow community members to spend Bitcoin within the community, ideally to raise the overall economic status of the community in the process.
The project now works with local public schools that have begun accepting Bitcoin for tuition fees, and has revamped the community centers for both Bitcoin Ekasi and Surfer Kids (partly with generous donations from Jack Dorsey and Thanks to fundraising by Aubrey Strobel.)
New signs are unveiled at the main entrance of a local township elementary school! https://t.co/ttbcg7x2ne pic.twitter.com/f6r2rygc0p
– Bitcoinekasi (@bitcoinekasi) January 17, 2025
Some politicians across the country spoke about adopting Bitcoin Cape Town this year, and some politicians have noticed the project and, as a result, are beginning to see the value of Bitcoin.
Tando
Tando is an app built by a Kenya-based team that allows you to interface with Kenya's mobile money system M-PESA into a Bitcoin Lightning wallet.
A very intuitive app that does not require KYC is one of the biggest tools of financial inclusion in the country, as those who lack the right ID paper will be excluded from payments via M-PESA. Using Tando, they can make payments through lightning wallets and trade digitally with fellow Kenyans.
Tando is also a great option for Bitcoiners visiting Kenya. I used it many times during my stay in Kenya and paid digitally for Kenyan shilling-denominated tabs.
For more information about the app, click here.
Bitcoindoor
Founded in 2023, Bitcoin Dua is located in Agbozume, Ghana, near the border with Togo. It quickly established itself as one of Africa's fastest growing Bitcoin circular economy.
The project will not only help educate Ghanaians about Bitcoin, but also provide coding and robot classes to help community members develop skills that will help them find employment to pay with Bitcoin.
Lego robots for preparation for 2025 #robotics Competition in Ghana. we, #africabitcoincirculareconomygrant. Thank you for @bitcoinbeach and @bitcoinekasi pic.twitter.com/s6niqmyqdl
– bitcoin dua (@bitcoin_dua) December 29, 2024
The project founder, Mawufemor Kofi Folivi and his team were awarded the Social Impact Award at this year's Bitcoin Conference in Africa, and Jack Dorsey provided funding to build a sports complex in the community.
The Bitcoin Dua team can't stop, they can't stop.
Machankura
Founded in May 2022 by Kgothatso Ngako (KG) (one of the organizers adopting Bitcoin Cape Town), Machankura is a company that Africans use Bitcoin over functional phones (in front of smartphones, i.e. mobile phones). allows you to use.
This technology allows users to send Bitcoin via USSD, the equivalent of African SMS, providing two-thirds of the African population that does not have access to internet access to Bitcoin.
KG is currently working on technology to store Bitcoin private keys on chips embedded in feature phones, essentially in six African countries where services function as Bitcoin hardware wallets. It enables mobile phones.
cypherpunk af.
Afribit Kibera
Located in Kenya, Africa Bit-Kibera is the circular economy of Bitcoin, located in Africa's largest informal settlement.
The project co-founder, Ronnie Mudawida, a longtime human rights advocate and community organizer, is now using Bitcoin as a tool to guide bankless and banks into the economy.
Mdawida and his team have set up a recycling program where 40 merchants have onboarded Bitcoin so far, and participants have rewarded SAT for their jobs.
Meet your first merchant in 2025 – The journey continues! Soon, the entire Kibera turns orange!@bitcoinekasi @fbceglobal @bitcoinbeach @blinkbtc @geyserfund @thecore21m pic.twitter.com/rwhezonn4v
– Afribit kibera (@afribitkibera) January 15th, 2025
Many of the merchants and community members of Afribit Kibera were primarily introduced to Bitcoin as a medium of exchange, but many felt more hopeful about the future as a result.
To proceed together
While each of the projects above is incredible in their own right, what really makes the African Bitcoin story so special is the members of all these projects continue to learn and build from one another.
This is not only open source software, but also conferences such as the adoption of the Bitcoin Conference in Africa where Bitcoin Cape Town and continental builders share successes and challenges and provide support to each other.
If you haven't already attended any of these meetings, we highly recommend doing so, especially if you want to feel the spirit of Cypherpunks and Bitcoin spirit firsthand.
Bitcoiners in Africa do not wait for permission to change both their lives and those around them. Bitcoin gives them the opportunity to build a brighter future together.
