African Fintech Summit will be accepting cryptos as a form of payment for tickets and sponsorship thanks to FiveWest

For the first time, the African Fintech Summit will be accepting cryptos as a form of payment for tickets and sponsorship, and the organizers settled on FiveWest's Crypto Payment Gateway to achieve this objective.

Numerous surveys point to the vast potential for crypto growth in Africa:

• 68% of all Africans were unbanked in 2017, while crypto adoption rates are exploding across the continent as Africans seek to bypass the banks and hedge themselves against weak local currencies. Cryptos are also seen as a secure way of transacting.

• Africans are increasingly aware that blockchain remittance is cheaper than using the traditional banking system, and many are already comfortable using cryptocurrency apps. The cost of remitting relatively small amounts via the banks averages 12% according to the World Bank, versus just a fraction of a percent if using gateways like that provided by FiveWest.

• At the current rate of crypto development, it is not a matter of if but when they will be globally accepted as a payment method. A recent Deloitte survey's results showed that 75% of retailers plan to accept cryptocurrency payments within the next two years.  (https://www.cnbc.com/2022/07/29/deloitte-75-percent-of-retailers-plan-to-accept-crypto-payments-in-2-years.html)

• An even more recent study by Deloitte found that up to 40% of customers who pay with crypto are new customers of the company, and their purchase amounts are twice those of credit card users. https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/audit/articles/corporates-using-crypto.html

• Digital payment methods have played an integral role in growing a country's economy. 

• The convenience of digital payments through the blockchain will increase the volume of payments and reduce costs.

• Blockchain payments are peer-to-peer with no chance of a person's data being used for fraud.

"Remittances and instant transfers are the use case for which the blockchain will be remembered. It is arguably the most democratising technology ever developed, next to the internet itself, as it brings financial services and convenience within reach of virtually every person on Earth," says van Helden.