Now, while many people struggle without
access to traditional banking, a
surprising financial experiment is
underway halfway around the world. In
one of Africa's largest urban slums,
Cabera, some roadside vegetable stands
are ac are accepting an unconventional
form of payment, Bitcoin. Residents in
Cabera, located in Kenya's capital, are
using Bitcoin as part of a project aimed
at bringing financial services to one of
the nation's most impoverished and
underbanked communities. From Nairobi,
here's Michael Koki.
>> Early morning in Nairobi's Kera informal
settlement,
a team of young men and women who are
part of a waste collection group go
doortodoor collecting garbage from the
area residents.
The group charges a waste collection fee
for their services.
Some of the residents pay the fee using
the cryptocurrency Bitcoin.
>> I prefer to pay my garbage collection
using Bitcoin because it's transaction
cost is really low. Uh it's something
like 0.0 something%. I've been using it
for a while now and it's really
convenient. Ronni Udawida and his team
regularly undertake what they refer to
as community meetups where residents in
the area are taken through learning
sessions to understand more about
Bitcoin. For example, how to purchase
bitcoins using Kenya shillings. Among
those who take part in these meetups are
local traders from the area, a group
that Ronnie says was key in encouraging
the use of Bitcoin in Kera. For
merchants to exist, we first of all
needed to have people who are earning in
Bitcoin, but now also we also needed
people who are willing to accept Bitcoin
as a means of payment for it to happen.
One of those who attends the community
learning sessions is Ruth Guamoka, a
local merchant in the area. Ruth now
also accepts Bitcoin as a form of
payment from her customers. I own a
general shop where I sell maze flour,
wheat flour, bananas, oranges and
vegetables in in particular. As a
merchant, I have accepted this bitcoin
and many people in my area kera also use
this bitcoin as a mode of payment and
they are able to pay for any commodity
they need. Here in the heart of Cabera,
a growing number of residents are
turning to cryptocurrency as a tool for
economic empowerment and as an
alternative to traditional financial
systems that many here feel are out of
reach. However, there are those who feel
that caution needs to be exercised when
promoting the use of cryptocurrency like
Bitcoin in a community. the challenges
around volatility exist uh because then
Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies are very
exposed to a lot of you know external
shocks for markets and therefore there's
a lot of volatility for most of these
cryptos at the moment and therefore that
is a huge challenge uh for the people
who live in informal settlements but
then again it offers an opportunity for
alternative finance and for people to be
able to participate in global markets.
Ronim Dawida and his team at Afribit
remain optimistic that the initiative
will enhance the lives of the people in
Kberlum. But is Bitcoin a viable
solution to financial inclusion for the
residents of this informal settlement?
Perhaps only time will tell. Michael
Koki, BBC News, Nairobi.