Africa to Hold Its First Ever Bitcoin Conference

Published at: Feb. 2, 2015

The first Bitcoin conference to take place in Africa will be held in Cape Town this year, on April 16 and 17.

Tipped to be a landmark event in Africa’s Bitcoin story, Bitcoin Africa Conference has received sponsorship from BitX and Bankymoon among others and will “will bring together merchants, investors, venture capitalists, start-ups and Bitcoin enthusiasts who are all looking to move Bitcoin forward in Africa.”

An official gathering for the extremely active Bitcoin community across the African continent has been a long time in the making. Projects such as P2P SMS payments in Kenya and remittance studies in Botswana have gained considerable media attention over the past 12 months, and advocates will eager to gain a further platform through which to showcase the many innovations taking place in Africa as of 2015.

In addition to bringing the community together, the conference seeks to fill an educative role. According to its official website, the event aims to provide “an in-depth understanding” of the following:

What is Bitcoin? The blockchain and Bitcoin mining Merchant adoption Bitcoin in Africa The financial, legal and regulatory implications of Bitcoin The future of Bitcoin

Prominent speakers already include well-known names such as Brock Pierce and Elizabeth Rossiello, the latter having founded Kenya’s BitPesa remittance and domestic money transfer provider last year. Talks will also be given by PayFast founder Jonathan Smit, whose operation allows South African merchants to accept Bitcoin for domestic transfers, and Bankymoon founder and CEO Lorien Gamaroff.

As of February it would appear both the schedule and attendees are subject to change. Cointelegraph reached out to ‘Bitcoin Lady Botswana’ Alakanani Itireleng, who confirmed that she intended to join the event, despite at present not having received an invitation. She added that she “did not know much” about the program of events to be showcased by the conference.

The conference is meanwhile accepting donations towards the final showcase in Cape Town via the official wallet:

Tickets are priced at 1,350 rand (US$117) and are available from the official website.

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