Africa Money and DeFi Summit is seeing the Hedera ecosystem lead the charge for banking the bankless. In fact, the topic was the focal point of the event for the majority of its duration. It was taken up by many experts in sessions and presentations. The event welcomed the participation of Pete Mensah, the Director of Payments, along with many builders from the ecosystem.
Others included WiPay, Emtech, and Flutterwave. All of them also made it to the highlights of the African event.
It was based on the fact that there are approximately 350 million people across the continent living without banking facilities. Banking the bankless concept aims to bring them onto the network with only a mobile and an Internet connection as the requirements. The potential of DLT will be leveraged to make it a reality, with DLT being an acronym for Distributed Ledger Technology. Making things interesting is the point that highlights that all of it will be made available at a much lower cost.
This can be explained with a simple example of USDC. International remittances currently take 1–10 days, with the services being operational only during banking hours. Plus, the cost increases with the inclusion of transaction fees. Overall, it is not just inconvenient but also expensive to execute a cross-border transaction.
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USDC makes life easier in two aspects: finality and add-on costs. Transactions are finalized in 2.5 seconds, and the add-on cost includes only 5 cents in gas fees. Both figures are subject to change without prior notice and depend on factors. However, it demonstrates the extent to which DLT can help to bank those who have been kept away from basic services. Also, it is available 24/7 with no dependence on banking hours.
Coming to the highlights of the event, here are the pointers showing what stole the limelight:
- eCedi Hackathon by Emtech with the Bank of Ghana
- Introduction of WiPay to connect the Americas, Caribbean, and Africa via Hedera
- Flutterwave to enhance Merchant Settlement
Community members can simultaneously consider attending at least one Fintech hackathon out of many or multiple events. Upcoming titles are Reva Hack 2023 in India, NEARCON IRL Hackathon over the Internet (virtual), and Interledger Summit 2023 in Costa Rica, among others.
eCedi Hackathon gave local developers a chance to demonstrate their creativity and offer solutions that can help drive financial inclusion. It further saw the talks about CBDC knowledge while laying down a carpet for participants to help them create a network with like-minded individuals.
WiPay is backing its connection for three regions by VOLT Network. It was announced last year and is now taking shape by helping eliminate third-party banks.
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Finally, Flutterwave has announced that it is integrating Hedera USDC into its existing model. The first phase will see the integration at a local fiat payout level, with details for further phases to be rolled out soon.
