Africa is at the forefront of practical Bitcoin adoption, with grassroots projects demonstrating how Bitcoin can solve real-world problems. From enabling payments without internet access to powering rural electrification through mining, African innovators are building solutions that prioritize financial inclusion, sovereignty, and economic empowerment.
Here are 10 projects that are genuinely changing Africa's relationship with Bitcoin and financial technology.
1. Tando : Spend Bitcoin Anywhere in Kenya
Location: Kenya
Tando is revolutionizing Bitcoin payments in Kenya by allowing anyone to spend bitcoin at any merchant that accepts M-Pesa, Kenya's ubiquitous mobile money service.
What makes Tando remarkable is its simplicity: users pay with Bitcoin via Lightning Network, and merchants receive Kenyan shillings instantly, no changes to their existing payment systems required.
Why It Matters
- No KYC requirements : completely private and accessible to everyone
- Zero transaction fees for users
- Works at 98% of Kenya's retail locations (anywhere M-Pesa is accepted)
- Eliminates the four-step process previously required to spend bitcoin in Kenya
Inspired by the African Bitcoin Conference in Ghana, where founders (@waithiraah) learned about local financial needs, Tando discovered through boots-on-the-ground research that Kenyans prefer Bitcoin as a medium of exchange first, not just a store of value.
This insight shaped their approach to making Bitcoin spendable for everyday purchases, from groceries to bills, creating a seamless bridge between Bitcoin and Kenya's existing mobile money infrastructure.
Website: tando.me
2. Bitsacco : Community Banking on Bitcoin
Location: Kenya
Bitsacco is reimagining traditional African savings cooperatives (SACCOs) using Bitcoin and Fedimint technology. In many African communities, SACCOs have long provided financial services to members through community-based governance—Bitsacco brings this trusted model onto Bitcoin, offering savings, loans, and group investment features (chamas) with the benefits of sound money.
Why It Matters
- Built on Fedimint for community custody, matching traditional SACCO trust models
- Enables dollar-cost averaging and automated Bitcoin savings
- Supports chamas (group savings), popular investment vehicles in Kenya
- SASRA-regulated in Kenya, ensuring legal compliance
- Offers upcoming Bitcoin-backed loans for individuals and groups
Bitsacco demonstrates how Bitcoin can integrate into existing financial infrastructure rather than replace it, providing African communities with secure, efficient alternatives to traditional banking while preserving the social trust mechanisms that have worked for generations.
Website: app.bitsacco.com
3. Gridless : Mining Bitcoin, Powering Africa
Location: Kenya, Malawi, Zambia
Gridless is solving two problems simultaneously: providing profitable Bitcoin mining operations and accelerating rural electrification in Africa. Backed by Jack Dorsey's Block, Gridless partners with renewable energy producers operating mini-grids in rural areas, using their excess energy (that would otherwise go to waste) to mine Bitcoin.
Why It Matters
- Provides revenue for energy producers from previously wasted power
- Has powered 8,000+ households across three countries
- Uses 100% renewable energy (hydro, geothermal, solar)
- Decentralizes Bitcoin mining away from traditional hubs in North America and China
Enables lower electricity prices for communities (one site dropped from 35¢ to 25¢ per kWh)
About 600 million Africans lack electricity access. Gridless acts as a "buyer of last resort" for stranded energy, making mini-grid projects economically viable while providing communities with reliable power. The mining operations have also enabled infrastructure improvements like cold storage for farmers, electric motorcycle charging stations, and public WiFi points.
Website: gridlesscompute.com
4. Fedimint & Fedi : Community Custody at Scale
Location: South Africa, multiple African countries
Fedimint is an open-source protocol for community-based Bitcoin custody that draws inspiration from traditional African savings systems like tontines, sosusu, and chamas. Fedi (the company) has raised $17 million to build applications on this protocol, creating a middle ground between full self-custody and trusting centralized exchanges.
Why It Matters
- Mirrors traditional African community finance models that have helped millions
- Provides privacy-preserving e-cash transactions
- Eliminates need for hardware wallets (not widely available in Africa)
- Being piloted by Bitcoin Ekasi and over 100 communities globally
- Integrates with Lightning Network for instant payments
The Fedimint model addresses a critical challenge: in many parts of Africa, acquiring hardware wallets is nearly impossible, yet trusted custodial services are also scarce. By distributing custody among a federation of trusted community members (guardians), Fedimint offers a practical solution that balances security with accessibility.
Website: fedimint.org
5. Money Badger : Bitcoin at 650,000+ Merchants
Location: South Africa
Money Badger is making Bitcoin spendable at massive scale in South Africa. Through partnerships with Pick n Pay (1,600+ stores) and Scan to Pay (650,000+ merchant locations), Money Badger enables instant Bitcoin payments while merchants receive South African rands. The platform integrates with major wallets including Luno, VALR, Binance, and all Bitcoin Lightning wallets.
Why It Matters
- 650,000+ merchant locations accept Bitcoin payments
- Processing over R1.4 million ($83,000) monthly in transactions
- Zero volatility risk for merchants (instant ZAR settlement)
- QR code technology makes adoption seamless for both customers and staff
- Raised $400,000 in pre-seed funding from P1 Ventures
Money Badger was founded by Carel van Wyk (co-founder of Luno) when Pick n Pay wanted to add Bitcoin payments. Using Lightning Network technology, they created a system that's faster and cheaper than credit card tap-to-pay.
South Africa's 9.4% crypto adoption rate (nearly 6 million people) provides a substantial user base, and Money Badger is capitalizing on this by making Bitcoin practical for everyday spending.
Moctar Builder
Website: moneybadger.co.za
6. Bitcoin Ekasi : South Africa's First Circular Economy
Location: Mossel Bay, South Africa
Bitcoin Ekasi, operating in a township outside Mossel Bay, has established one of Africa's most successful Bitcoin circular economies. Founded by Hermann Vivier as an extension of The Surfer Kids non-profit, the project pays all staff salaries 100% in Bitcoin while onboarding local shops to accept Bitcoin payments, creating a true closed-loop economy.
Why It Matters
- 32+ shops accepting Bitcoin in the township
- Operating since 2021, proving long-term sustainability
- Physical Bitcoin Education Center for community support
- Home-painting program pays residents 7,000 sats weekly
- Built on 10+ years of community trust through The Surfer Kids
Inspired by Bitcoin Beach in El Salvador, Bitcoin Ekasi demonstrates that circular economies work best when built on existing community relationships. The project operates on a "Bitcoin standard," meaning donations in Bitcoin stretch three times further than fiat donations due to merchant acceptance within the community. Recipients of the home-painting initiative must either save their Bitcoin or spend it locally, not convert to rands, strengthening the circular flow.
Moctar Builder
Website: bitcoinekasi.com
7. Machankura : Bitcoin Without Internet
Location: 9 African countries (Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia)
Created by South African developer Kgothatso Ngako, Machankura enables Bitcoin transactions using only basic feature phones and USSD codes, no smartphone or internet required. This innovation addresses a critical barrier: over half of Africa has limited internet access, yet feature phones dominate the market.
Why It Matters
- Works on feature phones that dominate African markets (68% in Kenya)
- No internet connection required—uses USSD like M-Pesa
- Active in 9 countries with thousands of users
- Personalized Lightning addresses simplify transactions
- Developing Java Card technology to enable feature phones as hardware wallets
Machankura (township slang for "money") shows how Bitcoin can reach the two-thirds of Africans without reliable internet. The platform charges just 1% transaction fees and integrates with the Lightning Network for instant, low-cost transactions. Ngako is now developing technology to store Bitcoin private keys on SIM card chips, effectively turning feature phones into self-custodial hardware wallets—a revolutionary step for financial sovereignty.
Website: Dial 4838333# (Kenya) or check machankura.com for other countries
8. Bitcoin Dua : Building Ghana's Bitcoin Future
Location: Agbozume, Ghana
Founded in 2023 near Ghana's border with Togo, Bitcoin Dua has rapidly become one of Africa's fastest-growing Bitcoin circular economies.
The project goes beyond payments, offering coding and robotics classes to help community members develop skills for Bitcoin-paying jobs, creating a holistic ecosystem for youth empowerment.
Why It Matters
- Education-first approach with dedicated Bitcoin Education Center
- Coding and robotics programs prepare youth for Bitcoin economy jobs
- Won Social Impact Award at 2024 African Bitcoin Conference
- Jack Dorsey committed funding for sports complex development
- Received grants from Bitcoin Beach and Bitcoin Ekasi
Bitcoin Dua's mission is to establish a self-sufficient economy where Bitcoin drives financial independence and innovation. The project emphasizes that Bitcoin is more than currency, it's a tool for financial empowerment. By teaching technical skills alongside Bitcoin literacy, founder Mawufemor Kofi Folivi and his team are creating sustainable pathways out of poverty while building Ghana's Bitcoin infrastructure from the ground up.
Frank Corva
Website: bitcoindua.org
9. Btrust Builders (Qala) : Training Africa's Bitcoin Developers
Location: Pan-African (online)
On December 3rd, we hosted the 2025 #BtrustGalaDinner at the Hennessy Park Hotel in Mauritius 🇲🇺.
— Btrust (@btrustteam) January 5, 2026
It was an evening to pause, breathe, and celebrate after a year of hard work.
Leaders, builders, and friends from across the Bitcoin ecosystem came together to reflect on our… pic.twitter.com/2fVQrdMkkl
Btrust Builders (formerly Qala) is training the next generation of African Bitcoin and Lightning developers. Founded with 500 BTC from Jack Dorsey and Jay-Z, this intensive 13-week program provides fully funded training to African software developers, with a remarkable 100% job placement rate for graduates.
Why It Matters
- 100% placement rate for program graduates
- Fully funded 13-week program with stipends
- Focused on open-source Bitcoin and Lightning development
- Over 800 African developers have applied since 2021
- Ensures African representation in Bitcoin's core development
The program addresses a critical gap: Bitcoin development decisions are made by those who contribute to the codebase, yet African developers have been underrepresented.
Btrust Builders CEO Femi Longe emphasizes that Bitcoin's technical decisions must reflect Africa's realities and cultural context. By training African developers to contribute to Bitcoin Core and Lightning, the program ensures that the protocol evolves to serve African needs, not just Western perspectives.
Website: builders.btrust.tech
Nakamoto Builder
10. Afribit Kibera : Bitcoin in Africa's Largest Settlement
Location: Kibera, Nairobi, Kenya
Afribit, founded by Ronnie Mdawida in 2019, is building a Bitcoin circular economy in Kibera, one of Africa's largest informal settlements with over 500,000 residents. In a community where 80% are unbanked and traditional financial services are inaccessible, Afribit provides Bitcoin-based solutions for payments, savings, and community development.
Why It Matters
- Over 200 residents actively using Bitcoin for daily transactions
- 40+ merchants accepting Bitcoin payments
- "Taka Sats" program pays residents for waste collection and recycling
- Bitcoin education combined with coding classes leading to IT jobs
- Provides financial access without documentation or bank accounts
Afribit demonstrates Bitcoin's power for the unbanked. Residents earn Bitcoin through waste management programs, completing education courses, and running Bitcoin-accepting businesses.
The project has evolved from simple payments to comprehensive community development, including microloan programs for motorcycle taxi drivers, women's empowerment initiatives, and youth coding education. Mdawida's approach emphasizes peer-to-peer education: "I don't want to be the only one doing Bitcoin. I want to duplicate myself and the knowledge."
Website: afribit.africa
Discover More Bitcoin Projects in Africa
We've highlighted 10 transformative projects, but there are many more worthy of recognition across the continent. For a comprehensive directory of Bitcoin initiatives changing Africa, visit Bitcoiners.Africa Directory, a resource similar to Bitcoin Builder that catalogs the growing ecosystem of African Bitcoin projects, from mining operations to educational initiatives, community economies, and innovative payment solutions.
The African Bitcoin landscape is expanding rapidly, with new projects launching regularly to address local challenges and opportunities. Whether you're interested in mining, education, payments, development, or community building, the directory provides an up-to-date view of the vibrant Bitcoin ecosystem across all 54 African countries.
Conclusion: Africa's Bitcoin Revolution
These ten projects represent more than technological innovation, they embody a fundamental shift in how money and financial services can work in Africa. Rather than waiting for traditional financial institutions to arrive, African communities are building their own solutions using Bitcoin's properties of permissionless access, programmable money, and censorship resistance.
Common Themes Across Projects
- Mobile-first design: Solutions work with feature phones and existing infrastructure like M-Pesa
- Community trust: Projects build on existing social structures rather than replacing them
- Education-focused: All projects prioritize teaching over evangelizing
- Practical adoption: Bitcoin as medium of exchange, not just speculation
- Grassroots approach: Bottom-up growth driven by local needs
Africa's Bitcoin innovation is showing the world what Bitcoin's original promise looks like in practice: peer-to-peer electronic cash that works for everyone, regardless of their access to traditional financial infrastructure. While wealthy nations debate
Bitcoin as an investment vehicle, African communities are proving its utility as freedom money, enabling financial inclusion, protecting against currency devaluation, facilitating remittances, and creating economic opportunities that were previously impossible.
The cypherpunk spirit, building solutions without asking permission is alive and well in Africa. These projects aren't waiting for government approval or NGO funding to create change. They're writing code, educating communities, onboarding merchants, and demonstrating that Bitcoin works best when it serves those who need it most.
As adoption accelerates across the continent, Africa isn't just participating in Bitcoin's future, it's defining it.
Information compiled from primary sources including project websites, conference presentations, and news coverage
