EMURGO Africa with the support of NODO, a pan-African Web3 Discovery & News platform, is excited to share that it will launch a report entitled “The State of Web3 in Africa” in June 2023 in Nairobi, Kenya via a joint event with professional services network PwC. EMURGO Africa is a regional entity of EMURGO, a founding entity of the Cardano blockchain.
This will be the first-ever research report about Web3 in Africa, describing the rapid growth of Web3 and investment in blockchain-based startups on the continent. The report showcases EMURGO Africa’s activities in the Web3 space over the last year and the merits of blockchain in alleviating the global macroeconomic pressures endured by Africa and other emerging markets.
“The State of Web3 in Africa” report is a collaborative effort between EMURGO Africa and PwC, one of the Big Four accounting firms.
The current state of Web3 in Africa
Today, Africa is one of the fastest markets for cryptocurrency, Web3, and blockchain. Governments in Nigeria and Kenya have already been employing blockchain in finance, real estate, transportation, education, and health sectors. Many Africans also use crypto assets for commercial payments, but their volatility makes them unsuitable as a store of value. Regardless, the Central African Republic is the first country in Africa, and the second in the world after El Salvador to designate Bitcoin as a legal tender. There is very real demand and prospects for Web3 in Africa, as blockchain-powered financial services are recognized as the solution to solve the continent’s social, structural, economic, and financial challenges.
Investors are especially keen to fund blockchain startups and companies from Africa, having injected approximately USD 88.5 million in Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa in 2021, and this figure is expected to grow significantly in the next few years. There is also a trend of rapid urbanization across the target countries, due to infrastructural development, technological revolution, and gig economy growth.
Nairobi in particular stands out in Africa as one of the leading tech startup ecosystems, currently boasting 180 startups which represent about 90% of Kenya’s startups, and is the highest-ranked startup ecosystem in Kenya. Nairobi is also #163 in the Global Startup Ecosystem Index of 2022 at the moment, and its ranking in Kenya has remained stable at #1 nationally since 2021.
EMURGO Africa in collaboration with PWC has conducted the research for this Web3 report in three target markets, Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa, to continue identifying, supporting, and incubating blockchain and Web3 talent in these countries. The three countries were selected due to their high uptake of Web3 technologies and ongoing stakeholder conversations regarding policy development and regulation of digital currencies.
“The State of Web3 in Africa” report is the result of a 4 months-long in-depth study done by EMURGO Africa in collaboration with PwC – analyzing the pain points, challenges, and opportunities of blockchain and Web3 on the continent. This highly-anticipated report is a first of its kind in the continent where news, insights, and information sources for Web3 remain very limited and outdated.
NODO, founded by EMURGO Africa, will be a media partner for the report launch event.
About EMURGO Africa
EMURGO Africa is a regional entity of EMURGO, a founding entity of the Cardano blockchain, and invests and partners with Africa-focused enterprises, startups, and accelerators to foster the development of socially impactful solutions on Cardano’s third-generation and environmentally-sustainable blockchain.
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- Official website: emurgo.africa
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- Twitter: @EmurgoAfrica
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- Telegram: @emurgoafrica
About PwC
With offices in 152 countries and almost 328,000 people, PwC is among the leading professional services networks in the world. We help organizations and individuals create the value they are looking for, by delivering quality in Assurance, Tax, and Advisory services.
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- Official website: www.pwc.com
