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Published in:
2020 | OriginalPaper | Chapter
3. Cashless Cash
M-Pesa and the Rise of E-Currency in Africa
Authors : Griffin Kao, Jessica Hong, Michael Perusse, Weizhen Sheng
Published in: Turning Silicon into Gold
Publisher: Apress
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Abstract
Dominated by vast swaths of savannah, lakelands, and mountain highlands, Kenya’s landscape is beautiful. These ecosystems support a wide range of flora and fauna that create a backdrop juxtaposed against a much less prosperous economic climate plagued by issues arising from widespread poverty and political instability. Indeed, a profusion of child labor, the lack of access to education, and rampant prostitution are all largely related to the fact that 42% of the Kenyan population lives below the poverty line according to UNICEF. And at a higher level, the financial institutions and tech industry of the African nation are consequently outmatched by those of the United States by nearly every relevant metric—from investment volume to rates of adoption for new technologies. It’s no surprise then that we tend to think of “Silicon Valley” or Wall Street before Kenya as financial or innovation hubs.