Binance is now the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange and blockchain ecosystem widening financial access for Africans. However, many Africans are stuck in the poverty trap due to a number of excluding factors beyond access to financial services. Let’s look at some of the efforts by Binance to bridge this gap specifically in Cameroon.
1. Education
Education is considered the key to escaping poverty by many and Binance is determined to provide lifelong financial and career development resources to crypto beginners.
With multiple events held to educate enthusiasts about the opportunities within the crypto space, the company is committed to showing how to make a living from crypto. Binance is also uncompromising in its commitment to ensuring that crypto fans are well-informed and do not fall prey to rogue actors or frauds.
Binance has educated over 541,000 Africans about cryptocurrency through the Binance Masterclass Education Series that was launched in January 2020. There have been both virtual and physical events for French-speaking Africans.
There is no shortage of testimonies and an attendee of a Binance event held on December 4th 2021 in Cameroon is quoted saying “I entered the cryptocurrency field by chance six months ago on the advice of a friend. But until now, I still didn’t master the workings of this technology.”
Séverin Kouam continued his testimony adding, “This training is very welcome since it allows me to better understand how it works, the benefits but most importantly the risks involved in cryptocurrency so that I don’t get fooled while investing my money.”
Binance regularly partners with local businesses to train, support and empower Africans and their businesses. The most recent partnership has seen the launch of a monthly training program to serve as a Crypto Academy in the four countries of Cameroon, Togo, Benin and Ivory Coast.
2. Provision of Financial Opportunities
Binance is creating new job opportunities through regular skills training and the provision of services that are enabling Cameroonians to remain employable globally and climb out of poverty.
The company regularly hosts boot camps and hackathons to show Africans the range of career opportunities available in the crypto space. Here students get to work on real-time projects where they apply the skills they have gained in the training.
With self-reliance and job creation as the goal, Binance has created opportunities for meaningful employment as some of these students have gone on to become employed in the workforce, build their own companies, start crypto trading and do a lot more.
The job opportunities begin within the company itself right from its platform; Binance has provided income opportunities for users who signed up and were accepted for Binance P2P Merchant Program.
Merchants provide liquidity for buyers or sellers on the platform and can make a living right from the comfort of their homes by completing multiple trades per day and making profits on each trade.
Binance P2P is a safe platform to conduct crypto trades with a robust security framework to ensure users enjoy a safe and secure crypto experience.
3. Ensuring Security & User Protection
User safety is a top priority when dealing with crypto and this is evident in Binance’s activities and community interactions. On Binance P2P, there are security updates, verified merchants and user security initiatives.in place to protect its users and ensure that fraudulent activity is prevented.
Binance constantly educates its users on safety and security protocols and was also one of the first cryptocurrency exchanges to introduce a secure fund (SAFU) with a value of $1 billion as a safety net for users in extreme cases.
This fund was first established in 2018 with the company allocating 10% of all trading fees to provide insurance for potential security breaches. Binance will continue to monitor the size of the security fund in order to ensure the fund size remains adequate to protect users’ interests.
Protection mechanisms such as Know your customer (KYC), anti-money laundering measures and account restrictions have been put in place to ensure that users are protected from scams.