HOW BIG IS AFRICA IN THE BLOCKCHAIN INDUSTRY?

According to the United Nations estimation of Monday, the 8th day of August 2022, Africa has a population of 1,407,909,104. This by a distance makes Africa the second most populous continent on the planet far ahead of Europe which currently stands at 3rd with a population of approximately 748,591,824 within the same period.

No doubt Africa is not yet at par with its European counterpart and indeed other much more advanced parts of the world in terms of development including in financial technology.

However, Africa has made a giant stride in the blockchain industry. Recent research by triple A (a reputable blockchain research institute), in its article titled 'Global crypto adoption', revealed how much Africa has grown in cryptocurrency usage and acceptability. As a matter of fact, Nigeria was ranked 4th globally with an estimated crypto holder of 22,332,791 persons with South Africa, Egypt, Ghana etc also occupying a respectable position on the global ladder. In fact, BBC in its article published on 28 February 2021 described Nigeria as a "global leader in Bitcoin trade". So we can say that African Blockchain Community have really come of age 

WHAT ARE THE KEY PROBLEMS FACING THE AFRICAN BLOCKCHAIN COMMUNITY? 

Despite these plausible strides by the African Blockchain Community, the government in most African countries have been very hostile to everything pertaining to cryptocurrency. We shall be considering a few of the problems limiting the potential of the African blockchain community and some of them are thus: 

• The government ban on the use of Cryptocurrencies: it is not even news that authorities in most African countries have placed various degrees of restrictions on Cryptocurrencies. According to the African business insider, some African countries like Algeria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Nigeria, Cote d'Ivoire, etc have placed both absolute and implicit bans on the use of cryptocurrencies. This has placed the users in uncomfortable positions, which I have personally experienced as a cryptocurrency dealer here in Africa. Centralised banks in Africa especially Nigeria have all been mandated to clamp down mercilessly on Cryptocurrency dealers placing bans on the bank accounts of anyone associated with cryptocurrency.

• Insecurities in Africa: Cryptocurrency users in Africa want a cryptocurrency platform that guarantees full protection of their privacies. Some other worries by the African Blockchain Community are the issue of tracking their digital assets and thereby making them targets of people who are likely to kidnap them for ransom or expose them to fraud.

Some other problems facing the African Community include high transaction charges, high technicalities of some cryptocurrencies, poor internet connections etc.

All the above-enumerated problems and more are the problems and most notable challenges facing the African Blockchain Community and that is the problem  Zcash absolutely came to solve. Before going further, it is now very important to know what Zcash is all about and what stands it out from other cryptocurrencies. 

Zcash is a cryptocurrency that is built to offer superior privacy protection than other cryptocurrencies you know, including Bitcoin. ZCash is a decentralized cryptocurrency that is built on privacy, anonymity and confidentiality. In Zcash, transactions can be either transparent, in which case they are controlled by a T-addr, or they can be shielded and are controlled by a Z-addr. For this discussion, we will restrict ourselves to a shielded transaction (Z-addr). A shielded transaction uses  zero-knowledge proof called zk-SNARKs read more about it herehttps://z.cash/technology/zksnarks

HOW DOES ZCASH SOLVE THIS PROBLEM FACING THE AFRICAN BLOCKCHAIN COMMUNITY?

• Introduction of Zkproof, Zcash network introduced Zero-knowledge proofs (zk-SNARKs) to encrypt all the information to be utterly secret. This is to ensure absolute privacy for the users, a unique trait that cannot be found in Bitcoin. This particular characteristic makes Zcash so much trusted in terms of user confidentiality.  
• Increased Transaction Speed: Zcash has an extremely high transaction speed, it has a 75-second block time. Bitcoin has 10 minutes, most other cryptocurrencies have a much longer time.
• Extremely Low Transaction Fee: Another notable advantage of Zcash is that the transaction is almost free due to its very lower transaction charges of .0001 Zcash. 
• Unlimited Location Barrier: Also, it does not matter the part of the world you find yourself in, the Zcash Network can be used for transactions in a very seamless and effortless manner. Location is not a barrier.

 CONCLUSION / RECOMMENDATIONS

Africa has made a giant stride in the blockchain industry, this can be shown when an African country like Nigeria was ranked 4th in the global cryptocurrency individual holders with more than 22 million persons said to be having a digital asset in Nigeria alone. This was also corroborated by the BBC publication on 28 February 2021 which described Nigeria as a giant in the blockchain industry globally. Other African countries are also making big-time headway. However, Nigeria and most other African countries have witnessed their government placing barns or serious restrictions on Cryptocurrencies. This has thrown those in the industry within Africa into hardship with a whole lot already discouraged from even venturing into the industry entirely. Additionally, people's cryptocurrency transactions are easily traced and they end up exposed to those who kidnap for ransom or becoming also exposed to fraud. This is the solution that ZCASH brings. Zcash through its unique zk-SNARKs is able to provide absolute confidentiality, secrecy and absolute privacy to its users in addition to so many other advantages it provides. African Blockchain Community and indeed any other Blockchain Community around the world, who desire these unique qualities which are practically absent in other cryptocurrencies, are all encouraged to embrace ZCASH. No other cryptocurrency is currently standing at this same stage with the Zcash privacy option in the Blockchain Industry globally. 

So, over to you the African Blockchain Community and other communities around the world who desire this unique innovation brought to us by Zcash. 

Privacy should be a choice