With the recent happenings in a world where a lesser percentage of the population is bankless and another lot not trusting the system, Crypto currency is really on the rise, creating bigger margins and divides in the fintech Ecosystem.
Crypto in Africa is a bigger challenge and also a major driver of change and innovation, but the bigger man (governments) are on the look out fighting and also trying to leverage on these before encapsulating losses to a world they are not farmiliar with. Alot of startups are now leveraging on web 3.0, i.e Yellow card a Nigerian Cryptocurrency Startup that raised the largest Funding in Africa in the Crypto category in 2021 has been one of teh first to create a disrupt in cyrptocurrency breakthrough in Africa , but is it really a disrupt ?
In the Chainalysis 2021 Global Crypto Adoption Index, Kenya was ranked fifth in cryptocurrency adoption globally. With crypto transactions exceeding Ksh. 6 billion (approximately US $55 million), Kenya is now only second to Nigeria in Africa.
Swerri, is a Decentralized Finance (DeFi) Protocol on the Polygon Blockchain which combines the power of DeFi in crypto and the functionalities of a decentralized exchange. i.e to Transact, trade, lend and borrow in crypto, The major enabler and game changer of Swerri Being the Swerri Circle.
According to the Founder and CEO Nick Mwendwa, “Swerri is here to create a shift and shake the Borrowing and Lending systems of the Banks and Credit unions “, In Africa Credit unions are usually formed by people with a common interest or members of an industry, like farmers or teachers, who buy shares in the institution, save money and take loans. They are popular in Kenya owing to their low-interest-rate loans and ease in accessing credit when compared to conventional banks. About 175 credit unions are licensed in Kenya to serve nearly 4.1 million members countrywide — a vast majority remain unlicensed.
With the impending issues of the economy and the strategies of the Banks and Credit unions, one needs a certain amount (x) in their account or savings in order to match the scoring system of the credit unions for acquiring the requested loan. The fences around these systems limit alot of people from accessing funds.
According to Nick Mwendwa, “This is a very draining and unnecessary means to acquiring loans, with the basis of they need my money to pass a mark and also need my references to create an enabling factor , which however I might pass the mark, they will still limit and not offer what I need as per my request.”
With the gorvernments around the world fighting their ways on how to fight this pandemic, we really don’t see how they will stop this, majorly being, Governments, Lending apps, Credit unions are all focused on being the sole controllers ( Centralized ), however with Applications like Swerri, this will be limited by creating more power to the community since the protocol on DeFi.
“The beta version of the app has been tested for feasibility, with an uptake of between 60% and 90%, Swerri COO, Lynda Ambiyo said. “Swerri is perfectly timed made for the web 3.0 community”
With an eye on lending apps that are facing a difficulty in leveraging in Lending to the cryptonians, Swerri has also provided a slolution ” We know Credit unions and Banks are very skeptical when it comes to DeFi, lending money and Crypto shouldn’t be complicated thing, basing all these are fintech enablers but in 2 different worlds. Swerri is offering a solution to Banks and Lending providers like Tala and Branch to come join in as super lenders in Swerri Circles.
Despite the majority of the populations believing that Crypto world might be a scam based on history of NuruCoin and such, many startups don’t offer their own coins/Token due to not being farmiliar with what Crypto is offering, Swerri unlike any other offers their own Token (SWET) , Swerri believes in offering more than just the bare minimum of Trading (buy, sell, and convert).
Earlier this year a Nigerian Twitter user Joshua Nwogo tweeted that Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange that processes 76 billion worth of transactions daily, had permanently blocked his account for 6 months. Accompanying the tweet were screenshots of his account balance, conversations he’d had with a Binance customer representative, and four hashtags—#boycottbinance #binancestopstealingcrypto #binancestopscamming #stoptradingonbinance—calling the exchange giant a scam and urging other customers to stop using the platform.
Although Scamming has been on a large scale and all Fintechs have all the KYC policy to ensure that this is all limited, However companies like Swerri reduce the risk by using other onboarding and safe gateways’ KYC to create a reliable and seamless userbility and trust. According to Swerri’s WhitePaper, a part of Swerri that is centralized but the bigger part of Swerri is decentralized, facilitating crypto on mobile so the mobile app and the components that facilitates transactions through users’ mobile identities are centralized. However, transactions between on blockchain are decentralized and can be exported to other decentralized exchanges if the user desires to.
With Yellowcard Describing it self as the Coinbase of Africa according to a statement on Business Day, does it really match up or will Swerri overpower this ?
