Modern technology is looked up as a promise of ending some of the most pressing problems that the world faces- poverty, hunger, homelessness, etc. Companies that execute technological services are often focused at some of the largest cities in the world, leaving most countries without opportunities for local developments, jobs in the tech industry, as well as economic developments. Promises are always afloat but equal distribution stands as a number one problem.

Africa is one place that has some community and economic issues that appear as a challenge to the well-being of its population for years. This doesn’t stop innovative tech-savvy minds to completely distort and shake up the Blockchain scene.

This time we are solely focusing on South African Blockchain startups that grabbed out attention recently.

We start off with the financial service app Wala. This one is quite an interesting project as it gives endless opportunities about controlling your finances and using it for payments and such.

1. Wala

Wala is an app through which users can earn money through small jobs. Users can purchase products and services like electricity, airtime, and water at minimum fees. You can send payments to friends and family for free, and pay for loans.

This is a blockchain startup based in Capetown, South Africa. The company was founded in 2017, and their goal is to make financial services accessible to everyone who can’t access traditional finance services. The app uses their native ERC-20 token which you can use to buy things, send to friends or exchange for cash.

The app is currently available in Uganda, South Africa, and Zimbabwe, with plans to expand to Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Tanzania, United Kingdom, and Zambia.

Our next project of choice is Sunexchange which has another fantastic idea that helps the environment and people.

2. Sunexchange

Sun Exchange is a South African-based marketplace that allows just anyone in the world to invest in solar energy projects in South Africa using Bitcoin (BTC).

Through the platform, people can own solar energy-producing cells and leasing them to business and organizations that are power-oriented. All installations and maintenance are monitored by one of the marketplace’s installation partners.

Sunexchange solves massive problems like limited energy infrastructure while letting users earn rental income.

This business model is well structured due to the win-win factor both for the environment, the community, and the investors. Another perfect example of Bitcoin adoption done right.

From solar energy, it’s time to move on to diamonds. The girl’s best friend or a powerful source of income for many people and danger for others. In some cases, jewelry manufacturers are the victims of fraught as diamonds’ authenticity is quite questionable.

3. Tracr

Diamonds may be one of the things that are used as weapons of fraught but this is about to end with Blockchain.

To track the conditions and state of locations and mined diamonds, the South African diamond company De Beers created Tracr to track where diamonds in Africa are mined and ensure that these locations are not war zones. The diamond company has permanent track records of all diamonds at the second they are mined. This transparency is aimed to improve the lives of the workers in the mining industry and help suppliers understand where their diamonds are coming from.

Ending this recap of some amazing South African Blockchain projects, we go over to the last project- the open source, decentralized protocol for digital assets Tari.

4. Tari

This platform allows users to program rules for digital assets and enforce them. Tari enables the management, use and transfer of any digital asset you can imagine like tickets, loyalty points, virtual goods, and more possibilities.

Tari is launched in 2018 by Monero’s founder Riccardo Spagni. The protocol behind Tari Labs allows people to manage various dApps for the successful transfer of digital assets across all of the Tari Blockchain.

Tari aims to execute payment solution through Monero across Africa. As a merge-mined sidechain of Monero, Tari inherits its security model.

So why the world is rooting for Blockchain?

As you already saw, Blockchain is supporting massive causes that affect communities in South Africa for years now. Leveraging power supplies, payment solutions, commodities’ transparency and banking accessibility are just few challenges that South Africa faces on a daily base, and they can be overcome with the little help of decentralized power.

Local Blockchain projects seem to be the future and as more and more entrepreneurs rise to the occasion, Blockchain is set on an amazing path in South Africa.

As CoinPoint is a multinational premium digital marketing agency, with an outstanding portfolio of successful campaigns since 2013, the agency held up multiple Blockchain startups. It is important to start off your business on the right foot and with the right marketing techniques. CoinPoint is always on the look out for inspiring startups and everything new that’s happening on the crypto and Blockchain horizon.

For more information on what we can offer for your Blockchain startup, contact us at sales@coinpoint.net.