Nourou is a 29-year-old bitcoiner with a vision for his native country. Former financial analyst at a French bank, he founded Bitcoin Senegal at the end of 2021.
After living eight years in France, during which Nourou earned his master’s degree, Bitcoin Chaincode qualifications, and a deep understanding of traditional financial markets from his work in the investment industry, he set out to build Senegal into a nation. Bitcoin.
He returned to his home country devastated to learn that Coinmap (a website that lists sellers and businesses that accept Bitcoin around the world), did not have any premises in Senegal. And that’s despite singer and influencer Akon’s plans to create a cryptocurrency-powered city in the nation.
Passionate about Bitcoin and aware that a “Bitcoin Beach” idea in El Salvador ended up making the Central American nation the first country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender, This 29-year-old was encouraged to try something similar in his hometown.
Since setting foot in Africa’s westernmost capital, Dakar, Nourou has made progress. In addition to founding Bitcoin Senegal, he has given more than 18 educational talks on the cryptocurrency and has convinced two restaurants, a game store, a surf camp and some local vendors to accept Bitcoin as a payment method. All this in the span of about six weeks.
His goal is to have 20 restaurants accept Bitcoin by July 2022, just before he finishes coding Senegal’s first native Bitcoin exchange from scratch. The platform would compete with Binance (which has an impressive presence in Africa), Paxful, and a friend’s crypto exchange that uses a third-party solution.
Nourou told Cointelegraph that your exchange will be as decentralized as possible, and knows that although the competition can be tough:
“Bitcoin demand is so great in Senegal that it doesn’t matter how many exchanges you do.”
In fact, although this sub-Saharan country of some 17 million people is familiar with Bitcoin, it is barely up to date with the digital currency. Furthermore, Nourou says that “Literacy rates are very low, one of the biggest barriers to adoption.”
Also, although the national language is officially French, most Senegalese speak Wolof, a local language. There are few educational resources about Bitcoin in Wolof; Therefore, Nourou created a YouTube channel in Wolof to educate his compatriots about the flagship cryptocurrency.
For sellers, the search for Bitcoin began in Les Almadies, a wealthy and ex-patriotic area of Dakar where foreign travelers are common and literacy rates are high. He has reached out to beach bars, restaurants and barbershops, happy to come “day or night” if there’s ever a problem with BitPay or Lightning terminals.
In the Praïnha restaurant (in the photo), the Bitcoin sign is clear and visible. The owner of the establishment, Renée, is a surf coach and freethinker who was “open to the idea of Bitcoin. Why not?” They accepted their first Bitcoin payment on February 24 after setting up a BTCPay server earlier in the month.
However, Bitcoin price volatility and education continue to hamper Nourou’s efforts to turn Senegal into a Bitcoin nation. Therefore advises sellers to include a 10% surcharge on Bitcoin payments.
Likewise, he spends a lot of time sitting down with retailers to talk about Bitcoin, before introducing them to Bitcoin’s layer 2 solution, the Lightning Network.
When it comes to education, it’s just not time efficient to try to equip taxi drivers or street vendors with QR codes and BTC Pay servers. For freelancers, a conversation and a mention of the YouTube channel is a useful start.
Instead, Nourou is aimed at restaurant owners, entrepreneurs, surf schools and established businesses. It is a small but vital step towards greater recognition of Bitcoin in the country.
Clarification: The information and/or opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily represent the views or editorial line of Cointelegraph. The information set forth herein should not be taken as financial advice or investment recommendation. All investment and commercial movement involve risks and it is the responsibility of each person to do their due research before making an investment decision.
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