Koinon: Allowing Finances to Flow Effortlessly in Africa
The continent of Africa is a sleeping giant that is growing exponentially in size. At the moment of writing this article, there is estimated to be 1.25 billion people living on the continent, this is forecasted to almost quadruple to 4.4 billion by 2100. However, in comparison to the western world, countries in Africa have been known to have significant problems regarding infrastructure and other necessities that are needed to allow the people to flourish.
The ability to make financial transactions in as effortless a way as possible is at the core of building a strong economy. It is no secret that such infrastructure can take a considerable amount of time to set up and may fall into the wrong hands, leading to corruption taking place.
Koinon aims to provide the people of Africa with the ability to make seamless transactions, regardless of where they are and whom they are doing business with. This allows for leapfrogging to take place, skipping the need to use outdated traditional financial systems that are already struggling with current population levels and occurrences of corruption.
The race to build
Koinon can aid Africa in the race that is on their hands to develop their countries to sustain the predicted population growth. South Sudan is a country noticing the highest increase per annum of the population in Africa (+3.83%). This is in stark contrast to one of the most respected yet shrinking nations in Asia, Japan (-0.2%). Yet there is a significant difference between the two, this lies in their infrastructure. While Japan would love to be in the position of many leading African nations regarding population growth, it most certainly wouldn’t want to trade in its an infrastructure for such an increase. Without the necessary infrastructure in place, the population growth that has been predicted in Africa could lead to disaster. Starvation is synonymous with how the western world imagines the poor in Africa suffering. While this is likely to be an ecological issue (lack of rainfall causing drought), it is also a political and infrastructure issue. If the necessary infrastructure is developed and put into place while the population grows, the citizens of these countries and our global population are likely to gain from Africa’s rise to power as a growing continent.
Building isn’t cheap
Why re-event the wheel? Koinon is a cost-effective alternative. It should be of no surprise that building infrastructure is a costly endeavor. Yes, it is likely to bring many benefits to a nation in the long run, however, the initial funds required can be exorbitant. So what is a potential workaround for many nations around the world, especially those that are in Africa? What could reduce the amount of infrastructural costs while still allowing their citizens to benefit from first-rate financial services that would normally only be available in countries known to have extremely well-developed systems? Koinon. Providing a platform that allows for one to store their savings without the concern for their funds going ‘missing’, to be able to trade with people from all over the world without the need to go through countless unnecessary loops and the convenience to make transactions in the blink of an eye, it benefits not only the citizens but those in power too.
It’s simple math. Why build something from scratch, that will cost significant amounts of time, energy and resources to develop a means to trade that has already been created and is likely to be safer, faster, and more up-to-date than your attempt? The funds that would have been used to build such a system can be diverted to more pressing problems within these nations, to better address the current issues that they are facing such as poverty, conflict, disease, and restricted access to education. The founder of Koinon, Matthew Mecke, was recently interviewed and had the following to say about Koinon’s contribution to the developing world
“The internet and specifically the Cloud has revolutionized the way that we can connect with each other around the world, yet it is often the West that tends to benefit from this financially. Koinon aims to support people from all walks of life, anywhere in the world, to be able to have a reliable way to move money, make payments, and support their families with instant, nearly free, and safe and secure in-country or cross border transactions”.
To conclude
Koinon and it’s a collaboration with African nations is likely to ease the burden on their shoulders, allowing for citizens to benefit from state-of-the-art financial technology that benefits their own lives and the economy as a whole. This is likely to lead to more funds being available for the infrastructure that will be required to allow for manageable growth. It is fascinating to see the different ways in which cryptocurrencies are being used to make a positive impact on our world, Koinon is helping Africa rise once again.
