$100 Bank Fees vs. Stablecoins. Why 650 Million Africans are Quitting Banks

Africa has some of the highest bank fees of any continent. According to former UN Deputy Secretary-General Vera Songwe, these fees range from $6 to $100. Meanwhile, transfers between accounts take between three days and a week.

These high fees, coupled with inadequate infrastructure, have forced 650 million people on the continent to abandon banking services altogether. While they may not have bank accounts, they do have smartphones and are aware of the advantages of stablecoin transfers.

Migrants, who traditionally send their earnings back to their homeland, were the first to conduct USDT transfers to Africa. Given the high inflation of African currencies, the digital dollar has also become an excellent means of saving.

USDT is most widely used in Egypt, Nigeria, Ethiopia and South Africa. The authorities in these countries have been trying unsuccessfully to combat the digital dollarisation of the local currency market.

Meanwhile, Ghana is legalising crypto services, Nigeria is introducing tax reporting, and South African regulators are warning about the risks to system stability.

Currently, platforms such as Yellow Card, Luno and Quidax, which facilitate the purchase of stablecoins with fiat currencies, dominate the market. In Nigeria and Kenya, where business stability is affected by the speed of fund turnover amid local currency volatility, the Cryptomus crypto gateway is rapidly gaining popularity.