Quidax’s CEO Okoro appeals for global collaboration to grow Africa’s crypto ecosystem

Buchi Okoro, CEO of Nigerian cryptocurrency exchange Quidax, has appealed to the global crypto ecosystem to collaborate with builders in Africa’s budding crypto community. 

According to him, a collaboration at such a scale is necessary to unlock Africa’s potential for growth in the decentralized economy. 

The details 

• Okoro, who delivered a speech last week at global crypto media firm Coindesk’s flagship conference Consensus, told Africa’s crypto story from his personal experience. 
• To Africans, crypto transcends the need to acquire and build wealth. Instead, ‘Crypto is hope,’ Okoro affirmed. 
• He added that digital assets have provided a way out to a large population of people looking to escape high inflation and costly remittances, and this represents an opportunity to drive crypto adoption. 
• He concluded by asking players in the crypto world to tap into the opportunities inherent in the continent by partnering with local firms and investing in projects building in Africa. 

What was said 

• Okoro said: 

“In Africa crypto is not hype; it is hope. Crypto is an opportunity; crypto is freedom. I personally believe that crypto in Africa is one of the greatest expressions of Satoshi's vision for Bitcoin. I believe Africa is an opportunity. Join us to build the future of Africa, not the future of crypto in Africa but the future of Africa.” 

Some context 

• In recent years, countries in Sub-Saharan Africa have seen exponential growth in terms of crypto adoption and usage, per crypto insights firm Chainalysis. 
• In 2024, Nigeria ranked second globally for crypto adoption, while Ethiopia, Kenya and South Africa all finished top 30. 
• In the same period, Sub-Saharan Africa led the world in the adoption of decentralized finance (DeFi), according to Chainalysis’ metrics. 
• The firm further noted that the surge in DeFi adoption may be attributed to a lack of widespread access to financial services. 
• However, this growth in adoption is not reflective of the size and volume of transactions in the region. SSA accounted for only 2.7% of the global crypto transaction volume, up from 2.3% the year before.