Sierra Leone Fashion Company Brings Bitcoin to West Africa

Bitcoin’s potential to succeed in Africa is widely recognized within the industry.
It’s capable of transforming the way we send remittances to the continent and giving the unbanked easy access to money quickly and freely. It’s an alternative currency for anyone, but especially useful in countries with unstable national currencies, and can reduce the cost of cross-border trade.
In Freetown, Sierra Leone, an ethical fashion accessories company called Bureh is taking the first step in creating a bitcoin economy for sub-Saharan Africa by accepting bitcoin via payments processor BitPay. That its total bitcoin transactions have been few since it began offering them in December doesn’t faze co-founder Daniel Heyman. Money movement, he told CoinDesk, is the main opportunity in bitcoin – not consumption.
Evidence of bitcoin’s transformative possibilities may be traceable across the continent. South Africa and Kenya certainly have well-established bitcoin economies that continue to progress. But so far, nothing on their level exist in West Africa.
Heyman said that stability and peace across the western region is at an all time high, and that makes prospects rosier for Bureh’s business and its possible role in the bitcoin ecosystem. He said:

“I personally am a big believer in the potential of bitcoin to leapfrog the existing financial infrastructure across sub-Saharan Africa. I’m not sure how quickly this will happen but in five years per se I could see a world where everyone has a bitcoin account tied to a cell phone, even in northern Sierra Leone where our fabrics are made. I could place orders from New York – which I do already – and also make payments.”

Source: Coin Desk