In this episode you will get to know a young man from Zimbabwe, Tongayi Choto, who is a software developer, entrepreneur and a bitcoin maximalist. He has founded Afriblocks, a Global Pan-African Freelance platform that connects professionals across the world. We talk about the problems young Zimbabweans are facing and his approach to make lives better. In the second part of this episode, I will answer listeners questions about the current use of bitcoin and other methods of payment in Zimbabwe. If you have a question, feel free to press the appropriate button on the episode page and record your question. https://bitcoinundco.com/en/africa5/

We talk about:

* Africa: high potential, but not enough opportunities
* Pan-African Freelance network
* Payments in cryptocurrencies
* The use of smart contracts for releasing funds
* Scams like MMM, Onecoin, bitclub
* The Volatility of bitcoin being a huge problem for poor people
* The impact of the Lightning Network in Africa
* Internet bundles

After the interview I answer these questions from my listeners:

* What is preventing widespread usage of bitcoin? Tech? Awareness? Laws? Working, cheap alternatives (Ecocash)? Fees?
* Are there bitcoin OGs in the community and if so are they still actively supporting the newcomers?
* Not sure if M-Pesa is available in Zimbabwe/Botswana. But if so, why would anybody use Bitcoin instead of already available digital payment solutions such as M-Pesa?
* Did you hear anything about http://beforward.jp and Bitcoin?
* I am interested how well people understand, if their own governments money is good money for them (in terms of purchasing power, inflation etc). What share of people in your impression are asking themselves this question in these countries?
* Are Zimbabweans living overseas using bitcoin for remittances? If so, how does this channel work? How do bitcoin remittances compare to alternatives like Western Union?

Other relevant episodes:
Part 1 Zimbabwe: Ideal Conditions for Bitcoin?
https://bitcoinundco.com/en/africa1/

Part 2 Zimbabwe: Living in a Multi-Currency World
https://bitcoinundco.com/en/africa2/

Part 3: Using Bitcoin in Zimbabwe
https://bitcoinundco.com/en/africa3/

Part 4: If Bitcoin Works in Zimbabwe, It Works Everywhere
https://bitcoinundco.com/en/africa4/

This episode is sponsored by https://localbitcoins.com/ a person-to-person bitcoin trading site, Coinfinity and the Card Wallet https://www.cardwallet.com/anita, SHIFT Cryptosecurity, manufacturer of the hardware wallet BitBox02 https://shiftcrypto.ch/bitbox02/, The What Bitcoin Did podcast https://whatbitcoindid.com/ and many thanks to several unknown private donors, who sent me Satoshis over the Lightning Network.

This special is edited by CoinDesk’s Podcasts Editor Adam B. Levine and published first on the CoinDesk Podcast Network. Thank you very much for supporting the Bitcoin in Africa series with your work.

Thanks goes also out to stakwork.com - stakwork is a great project that brings bitcoin into the world through earning. One can do microjobs on stakwork, earning Satoshis and cash them out without even having an understanding about the lightning network or bitcoin. I think we need more projects like that to spread the usage of bitcoin around the world.

Thank you also to GoTenna https://gotenna.com/, for donating several GoTenna devices to set up a mesh network in Zimbabwe and to Team Satoshi https://teamsatoshi.org/, the decentralized sports team for supporting my work.