With its most recent invention, a worldwide financial platform that operates in Kibera, Kenya’s largest slum, has garnered international attention by paying locals with Bitcoin for their participation in rubbish collection and management in the heavily crowded estate.
Unlike places like Kileleshwa, which are known for financial firms, the platform, called Afribit, was covered in Forbes over the weekend and has since gained popularity for revolutionizing money transfers in Kibera, a place not usually associated with fintech innovation.
In addition to offering hundreds of residents Bitcoin training and coding workshops, the site also involves young people in waste management initiatives where they pick up trash from homes throughout the estate and get paid in Bitcoin.
Furthermore, the company has set up an online marketplace where Kibera locals may exchange their things for Bitcoin.
Existing issues like the lack of appropriate documentation needed to obtain identification needed to access banking and mobile financial services, according to Ronnie Mdawida, director of the Afribit project, motivated the decision to introduce Bitcoin as a payment method for slum dwellers.
Mdawida clarified that the inability of many Kibera people to use Kenya’s conventional financial payment system is what encourages them to use the technique.
Today, the concept has expanded to include roadside fresh vegetable vendors, often referred to as Mama Mbogas, who now take Bitcoin in exchange for their goods.
The company is led by Mdawida, a Kenyan who has spent the previous 15 years working on community development projects in Kenya. In 2019, a Canadian citizen introduced Mdawida to the Bitcoin market.
He became interested in presenting the idea to the Kibera slum population at that point.
The project has also assisted the community in locating fulfilling employment opportunities that will enable them to support Kenya’s circular economy.
