To Investors,
There should be more coverage about the fact that Africa Bitcoin Corporation was recently listed on the JSE, and on the Namibia Stock Exchange. Africa Bitcoin Corporation is Africa’s first bitcoin treasury company. This is a huge deal!
Africa Bitcoin Corporation has a stated mission to “build the largest Bitcoin treasury on African soil”, and to give over a billion Africans access to sound money.
What does that mean?
Well, to understand the role of Africa Bitcoin Corporation and the importance of Bitcoin itself, it’s essential to first grasp the evolution of money – a concept that has shaped human societies for millennia.
At its core, money is a social construct: a shared agreement among people that a particular medium holds value and can be used for exchange. We accept payment in a given currency because we collectively believe it enables us to acquire goods, services, and opportunities within society. This trust is the foundation of all economic systems, allowing individuals and communities to transact efficiently without constant negotiation.
The history of money reflects humanity’s ongoing quest for reliable, scalable mediums of exchange. And at the same time, if we need to transact using any form of money, we need to be able to store that money in reserve and believe that one unit of that money can buy the same amount of goods and services in the future.
In ancient times, before formalised currencies, people relied on barter systems, trading goods and services directly – such as swapping livestock for tools or grain for cloth – based on mutually agreed-upon values. While effective in small communities, barter was cumbersome for larger societies due to the need for a “double coincidence of wants” (where both parties must desire exactly what the other offers) and challenges in storing or dividing value.
As civilizations grew, precious metals like gold and silver emerged as superior alternatives. These were durable, divisible, portable, and scarce, making them ideal for coinage. For instance, ancient empires such as the Lydians in the 7th century BCE minted the first known coins from electrum (a gold-silver alloy), which facilitated trade across vast distances. This era relied on a social contract: communities agreed that these metals inherently held value due to their rarity and utility, enabling smoother transactions and economic expansion.
Fast-forward to the modern era, and most transactions today are settled using paper banknotes or digital equivalents, such as the South African Rand or the U.S. Dollar.
Today, money is centrally issued and controlled by the national government through treasury and the central bank; and in African countries, this centrally controlled money doesn’t always benefit everyone.
In contrast, bitcoin is a publicly available, anti-inflationary, decentralised financial system, accessible by anyone, and strengthened through network effects.
There are five major issues that bitcoin addresses in Africa:
Financial Inclusion for the Unbanked
Protection Against Hyperinflation and Currency Devaluation
Cheaper and Faster Remittances
Bypassing Bureaucracy and Government Restrictions
Boosting Trade, Businesses, and Economic Growth
Financial Inclusion
An estimated 300 million+ Africans lack access to traditional banking due to being in remote locations, high fees, lack of documentation, or lack of digital literacy among other factors. Bitcoin generally requires only a basic smartphone or feature phone and internet access, enabling peer-to-peer transactions without intermediaries. This leapfrogs outdated banking infrastructure, allowing people to save, send, and receive money securely.
That said, a fascinating project is under way, called Machankura, in South Africa, which enables SMS-based Bitcoin payments on basic phones, reaching rural unbanked communities without data needs.
Protection Against Hyperinflation and Currency Devaluation
The rands and dollars that we use today are referred to as “fiat money”. This fiat money is currencies issued and regulated by governments and their central banks – such as the South African Reserve Bank for the Rand and the Federal Reserve for the Dollar. Unlike earlier systems, fiat money derives its value not from intrinsic worth (like gold) but from governmental decree and public confidence in the issuing authority.
A key vulnerability of fiat money is its lack of tangible backing. Its value is sustained purely by collective faith in the system’s stability, enforced through legal tender laws. This can lead to instability, as governments can print more currency at will, potentially eroding purchasing power through inflation.
This wasn’t always the case. For much of the 20th century, many global currencies operated under the gold standard, where paper money functioned as an IOU – a promise that it could be redeemed for a fixed amount of gold at any time. This system, formalised in the Bretton Woods Agreement of 1944, pegged the U.S. Dollar to gold at $35 per ounce, with other currencies linked to the Dollar. It provided discipline, limiting excessive money creation because governments needed sufficient gold reserves to back their currencies.
The shift away from this gold-backed system began in 1971 when U.S. President Richard Nixon unilaterally suspended the Dollar’s convertibility to gold. Facing mounting spending pressures from the Vietnam War, domestic social programs, and a growing trade deficit, the U.S. sought to expand its money supply without the constraints of gold reserves. This allowed the government to finance expenditures through increased issuance of Dollars, effectively decoupling currency from physical assets.
Nixon’s decision marked the dawn of the pure fiat era, influencing the global financial system. By 1973, the Bretton Woods system had collapsed, and currencies worldwide floated freely, backed solely by the “full faith and credit” of their issuing governments. Today all currencies operate this way. In practical terms, this means that if citizens attempted to redeem their savings for gold or another hard asset directly from the government today, such requests would be impossible to fulfil on a large scale – the system relies on trust, not reserves.
Debasement/devaluation can be tracked through:
Rising national debt: In South Africa, national government debt has reached R5 trillion according to World Bank data.
Among other issues, rising national debt manifests in a weakening currency
Asset pieces as a function of local currency supply: The JSE has risen 900% since 2003. However the performance of the JSE as a function of ZAR M2 money supply is flat, having risen only 29% over the same period.
That means South Africans are vulnerable to a weakening Rand — which leads to high import costs, and high debt costs — as well as under-performing assets in terms of the ZAR money supply.
If we turn to inflation, many African currencies suffer from extreme volatility – Zimbabwe’s hyperinflation hit 785% in 2020, Nigeria’s Naira has lost nearly 70% of its value since 2023, and South Sudan’s inflation currently exceeds 100%.
To address these issues, Bitcoin is an independent financial system, with a distributed ledger, which means that no one entity can control bitcoin, and the system is secured through network effects. As encoded in the bitcoin financial system, only 21 million bitcoins will ever exist, and no one can create more.
Cheaper and Faster Remittances
Remittances total ~$95 billion annually for Africa, but traditional services like Western Union can charge more than 10% fees and take days to process. Initially, bitcoin was the primary avenue for remittances to Africa. Bitcoin transactions cost a small fraction of fees charged through traditional fiat driven avenues, and settle in minutes, retaining more money for families. Bitcoin adoption in Africa has led to increasing stablecoin adoption, which is increasingly becoming the more common remittance option due to having even lower transaction fees. Being technology platforms, bitcoin and stablecoin transaction fees will continue to decrease while maintaining high settlement speed.
Additionally, according to a report by Chainalysis; “Among fiat purchases of crypto in Sub-Saharan Africa… bitcoin dominates in both Nigeria and South Africa, making up 89% and 74% of [digital asset] purchases, respectively… This suggests that, in [Sub-Saharan African] markets, BTC is viewed not only as a store of value, but also as a default entry point for [digital asset] exposure, particularly in environments where fiat currency faces volatility or access to other investment vehicles is limited. In Nigeria, where access to USD is tightly controlled and inflation remains high, bitcoin has become a widely recognised financial hedge and alternative savings tool.”
Bypassing Bureaucracy and Government Restrictions
Complex regulations, capital controls, and frozen bank accounts hinder trade and activism. Bitcoin’s permission-less nature allows uncensorable transactions, evading surveillance or seizures – crucial in autocratic regimes, or during events that lead to government overreach. For example, during Nigeria’s 2020 #EndSARS protests, the government froze bank accounts of activists; Bitcoin supported efforts for continued fundraising.
In another example, the Central Bank of Nigeria initiated multiple Naira devaluations in recent years, making U.S. dollars harder to access, squeezing volumes on local exchanges. Traders in Nigeria reportedly started using Bitcoin to settle international transactions, which again led to increasing stablecoin usage, facilitating even large imports like raw materials.
Boosting Trade, Businesses, and Economic Growth
Africa accounts for 6% of global crypto peer-to-peer (P2P) transaction volume, the highest globally. Additionally, according to Chainalysis, while Nigeria had the third largest global DeFi transaction volume as of September 2025, Sub-Saharan Africa showed the third fastest on-chain crypto activity growth YOY between 2024 and 2025.
Digital asset trade is burgeoning in Africa. A number of fascinating bitcoin-related initiatives are active in Africa to drive adoption, support businesses, boost trade, and ultimately ignite economic growth. Here’s a list:
I had already mentioned Machankura, a South African project enabling bitcoin transactions via SMS on basic phones, using the Lightning Network to serve unbanked rural users without internet access.
A project called Bitcoin Ekasi has been underway in South Africa, where a township in Mossel Bay is accepting bitcoin donations to power the local economy and support local businesses and trade.
Bitcoin Ekiti, a Nigerian initiative, is a bitcoin circular economy in Ekiti State, empowering businesses and youth with bitcoin payments and education.
The Sun Exchange lets users buy solar energy assets with Bitcoin, funding renewable energy in off-grid areas.
Stealth Money exists as a platform for simplifying bitcoin purchases and self-custody for Africans, promoting hardware wallets for financial sovereignty
Adopting Bitcoin, an annual Bitcoin conference in Cape Town, is fostering adoption through workshops and Lightning Network demos
Bitcoin Beach Hotel Zanzibar, a resort with beachfront villas and bungalows in Zanzibar accepts Bitcoin payments.
Tando, a no-KYC, zero-fee model with M-Pesa integration is enabling millions of Kenyans to use bitcoin for everyday transactions.
Government and Sovereign Adoption
Some nations are integrating Bitcoin at the policy level for sovereignty and innovation. The Central African Republic (CAR) made it legal tender in 2022 (Africa’s first), aiming to reduce reliance on the colonial-era CFA franc and attract investment. CAR also launched a tax-free Bitcoin hub.
I wrote a letter to this group about why Nigeria should also adopt a national bitcoin strategy, to help alleviate local currency pressures. Other African countries will likely follow suite for similar reasons.
…
Circling back, Africa Bitcoin Corporation (ABC) will raise more awareness about Bitcoin in Africa, boosting efforts to address financial inclusion, hyperinflation, currency debasement/devaluation, cheap and fast remittances, and finding ways to boost economic trade.
Corporate Strategy
As a bitcoin treasury company, ABC allows corporate, institutional, and individual investors to participate in the bitcoin ecosystem and benefit from bitcoin returns by purchasing shares in Africa Bitcoin Corporation.
Why buy ABC stock instead of Bitcoin directly?
Well, certain investors, such as those in pension funds, endowments, or regulated entities, may be prohibited from holding commodities or digital assets directly due to compliance rules or mandates. However, they can invest in publicly traded stocks like Africa Bitcoin Corporation, which provides indirect Bitcoin exposure while fitting within traditional financial asset frameworks.
Another reason is that it’s possible that direct Bitcoin (or even some Bitcoin ETFs) might not be eligible for certain tax treatments, or could trigger unfavourable tax treatments (e.g., treated as income rather than capital gains). There may be an opportunity where Africa Bitcoin Corporation shares can be held as an investment with better tax efficiency. Double check this with your financial adviser!
One more reason you could need to buy ABC stock instead of buying bitcoin directly is that in some countries the regulation around digital assets may be complex to understand. So to ensure you remain compliant, it may be best to outsource that compliance to Africa Bitcoin Corporation.
I’ll mention one more reason — investor protection. Protections for investors in publicly listed entities may be more robust. And for companies or funds wanting Bitcoin exposure without the operational hassle of custody, taxes on digital asset transactions, or volatility in balance sheets, ABC stock may integrate seamlessly as an equity holding.
There are other Bitcoin treasury companies that run similar plays, such as Strategy, Metaplanet, Semler Scientific, Marathon Digital Holdings, and ProCap BTC. Africa Bitcoin Corporation is following a similar blueprint.
As an investment firm, here’s the genius part for ABC:
Africa Bitcoin Corporation primarily has an SME secured lending business. As the company’s bitcoin holdings grow, and as the value of their balance sheet grows with the rise in the price of bitcoin, Africa Bitcoin Corporation can leverage that balance sheet to raise capital at lower interest rates, and arbitrage lending at higher rates prevalent in African markets.
One huge barrier to accessing global capital in Africa is collateral. If bitcoin is recognised globally as a highly valuable asset, it would make it easy for a firm with a significant amount of Bitcoin on its balance sheet to access global capital. It’s a win-win because ABC can raise more capital, and at the same time more capital is available to support businesses in Africa.
I hope you enjoyed reading this letter
On my journey to becoming a master capital allocator, one lesson down, a billion more to go.
Hope you all have a great day
-Mansa
