The CEO of Binance has announced that the Exchange is partnering with Crypto Savanna, a Ugandan Blockchain innovation hub, to aid in the economic development of the east African country, according to a Twitter post:
@binance will partner with @cryptosavannah @AggieKonde @HelenHaiyu to support Uganda's economic transformation and youth employment through blockchain, embracing the 4th industrial revolution. We will do this by creating thousands of jobs and bringing investments to Uganda.
— CZ (@cz_binance) April 22, 2018
Zhao Changpeng has met with the Blockchain Association of Uganda to discuss the collaboration, as published by that organisation also on Twitter.
Binance Founder meets Blockchain Association of Uganda in an open meeting to discuss collaboration @BitcoinAfricaio @BitcoinKE @coindesk @KwameRugunda @noryo @suleug @blockchainug @cz_binance @binance pic.twitter.com/a55FkKQtlD
— Crypto Savannah (@CryptoSavannah) April 23, 2018
Binance is currently the biggest cryptocurrency exchange in the world, with 24-hour trading volumes of more than $2 billion according to coinmarketcap.com. Originally from China, it was forced to move and took the opportunity to expand - it now has offices in Hong Kong and Japan, and is planning to open one in Malta.
The Blockchain Association of Uganda is a non-profit advocacy group. Its stated aims are to promote blockchain technology in the country, organise events, support blockchain projects, and represent Uganda internationally. The main hubs for blockchain technology in Africa so far have been Kenya, South Africa, and Zimbabwe.
The African continent is an area of great potential for blockchain enterprises for a number of reasons.
Large numbers of people across many regions of Africa do not have access to banks, and more than 30 million Africans work abroad and send money home, so technology that allows people to connect with the financial system could potentially find mass adoption there. For example, M-Pesa, a mobile phone-based payment service, processes over 25% of the entire gross national product of Kenya.
In addition to these factors, the new industry could bring new jobs, aiding poverty-stricken areas to develop economically.
Uganda is a landlocked country with a population of 42 million people. It is one of the poorest in the world. It is rich in natural resources such as coffee, tobacco, sugar, base metals and oil, although its service sector overtook agriculture in terms of share of GDP in 2007.
Uganda has one of the biggest remittance markets in the world, according to World Bank data from 2016. The country has a large diaspora, and in 2016 they sent more than $1 billion home.
