LBank - The Investment landscape in Africa

LBank - The Investment landscape in Africa

Participants:

• JP (CMO of AdLunam)

• Chukwuemeka Gerald Ibeawuchi (Africa Community Manager at LBank)

00:22

JP

Alright, ladies and gentlemen, welcome. Welcome to this episode of Diving into Crypto. This is JP from AdLunam Inc. bringing you everything about web3. This is the show where you have the movers, the shakers, the candlestick watchers of everybody doing something spectacular in the Web3 space. Before we begin, of course, ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to remind you a few announcements. First off, in case we get cut off, go back to AdLunam Inc. and you'll find a new link to allow you to get back into the show. Views expressed on this program belong to that of the speaker and is meant for educational purposes only and it's not to be considered as financial advice.

01:03

JP

Finally, you should know that this show is brought to you by AdLunam, which is the industry's investment platform which is NFT integrated with an Engage to Earn seed crowdfunding and IDO Launchpad with a Proof of Attention allocation model. Which means that the more attention that you pay, the more your attention is paying you. All right, that being said, ladies and gentlemen, I'm very pleased to have this guest on our show. His name is Chukwuemeka Gerald Ibeawuchi. And I hope I'm saying that correctly, because if I'm not, you can just call him Chuks. Gerald, as you can see on his handle, he is the Africa community manager for LBank. And LBank, as you know, is doing phenomenal work as one of the leading exchanges and we're going to learn a lot more about that and the investment landscape across the African continent. So with that, ladies and gentlemen, and without further ado, let's welcome Chucks onto the show.

02:04

Gerald

Hey, how are you doing? I am very fine. Thank you so much for having me. I am super excited to be here and I can't wait to learn as well as share from my wealth of knowledge. Thank you.

02:22

JP

Thank you for accepting our invitation and being on the show. I understand that you are a dynamic and energetic citizen who's passionate about promoting the SDGs from the UN in Nigeria and Africa. Now, I know that is some part of your background, but Chucks, please tell us a little more about who you are and what got you here.

02:44

Gerald

ed from the University around: 2019

04:12

Gerald

So it's been an amazing journey from then where I started till now. But this was all because of the fact that I had this passion to come into this space and also make a name for myself, make a name for my community, make a name for my country at large. And that's because of the passion to also help people understand this technology. The possibilities here in the entire Web Three technology, be it cryptocurrency, decentralized finance, NFTs, the Metaverse, just name it, there are opportunities for Africans to actually thrive in. And that was what even made me to write a book about breaking into blockchain, how people can have this as a career, not just plotting graphs and all. I started off as a trader, a forex trader back then, and that was what gave me the insight to do like, cryptocurrency trading when I got into the space.

05:15

Gerald

So from the humanitarian space and also a forex background, that led me to where I am today. And we've been building people, building communities, and trying to see how we can actually put our continent on the global map.

05:35

JP

That's brilliant. That's quite a journey, and thank you for sharing that with us. I know that most people have this idea about the entry into Web3 has always been just a little bit about, I've gotten into trading. I understand some of the financial shifts that may happen, but when it actually comes to sticking around in Web3, right, there must have been a turning point at which you decided, hey, Web3, is this space to be for me? What was that like for you?

06:14

Gerald

Okay, so for me, I came in expecting it to because I am a long term person. I try to build for long term. And I understand that the entire Web3 space or the crypto space is not a get rich quick scheme. So you actually need to build projects and you actually need to build yourself first for the future. And it wasn't easy because when I came in, there was no material for me to lay my hands on. But thanks to communities that I belonged to, thanks to some of the materials I got online, thanks to mentors in the space, that helped me catapult me or helped me start my career properly. And for me, the turning point happened where I saw that we can actually use cryptocurrency for social good, cryptocurrency to build communities, build people, build lots of things. Because back then, I one time worked for built with bitcoin foundation, and were using cryptocurrency for social good, building schools in communities in Nigeria, building schools in communities in Machakos in Kenya, Bugasera in Rwanda, and also Kumasi in Ghana.

07:37

Gerald

So for that was like the turning point for me. Since everybody saw cryptocurrency as just trading it, some people took it then as like a career and also something for social change. And it was like the turning point for me because I was coming from a humanitarian background. And I also worked one time, volunteered one time for the United Nations high commission for refugees. That's the UNHCR. So coming from that background and seeing that we can actually use tech for good, we can actually use tech for very interesting social projects, those things actually was my turning point. I was like, okay, this space, I'm going to stay here and also do so much more for myself. I'm going to stay here, lend. I'm going to stay here online, relearn, bring up more people, raise an army, just drag people into this space because it has the power to create wealth.

08:37

Gerald

Blockchain cryptocurrency has the power to create enormous wealth. It has the power to give people financial freedom. And it has actually changed my life in just a brief while that I've been in the space. So for me, turning point was that period when I saw that we can actually use cryptocurrency for social good and for long term projects that can benefit people around us and the world at large.

09:05

JP

Wow. It's always fascinating when you hear the stories about how the evolution occurs, and especially for someone like you, who's been in this space for a long time, who's been for, I understand, the last six years, or also because of the journey that you've taken with working with the Bitcoin Foundation, the UN initiatives in the area, and life changing, indeed. So is that what sparked the idea for you to author the book? Which one is it?

09:45

Gerald

Yes.

09:45

JP

Breaking into blockchain. Could you tell us a little about that initiative and how that's come about?

09:52

Gerald

Okay, so like I said, building a web3 community, it involves understanding blockchain technology. So even if you want to transition into web3, you need to understand what blockchain technology is, even if it's just having the base knowledge of it, then once you understand what it is, you need to define a clear purpose of what you actually want. So for me, when I came in, I actually needed to understand, and I was finding it difficult to get materials on web three. But I saw some couple of books, bitcoin billionaires and the likes, and those books actually helped me in doing so much more. Here in Africa, we really do not have, or here in Nigeria, we really do not have books written by African authors. So what we saw then were things imported from the west that were reading. They were very good, but I needed to also write things in our own perspective.

10:55

Gerald

So the way we as Nigerians think, I needed to put it inside a book for people that are trying to understand how to break into blockchain. They needed to understand it the Nigerian way. So also defining a clear purpose for themselves. In that book, I also tried to put the careers that we have in the space. So the challenges I had in the past was what prompted me to sit down and also put something down for people to overcome those challenges. So you need to understand what blockchain is. You need to define a clear purpose for yourself. You need to understand that. You need to start taking actions. So those challenges I had in the past basically was what prompted me to sit down and write a book that an African or a Nigerian would pick up and also relate to those challenges and how we solved them.

11:58

Gerald

And also interviewing various people, various Nigerians in the space that have used Web3 cryptocurrency blockchain technology as a professional career for themselves. So in that book, it was just stated clearly for a Nigerian or an African to peak and relate with it.

12:19

JP

Well, I'm glad that you're in a position where you were able to translate your journey and learnings also into a book that know, relatable to the landscape. Of course, in Nigeria and then across the African continent, of course there'll be multiple nuances across various countries, there no doubt. But hats off to you for being able to do that. I'm also curious to understand when it comes to some aspect of understanding a community there, right? What are some of the key challenges that you may have faced? What are some of the nuances that you find in Nigeria, for example, or the crypto community across Africa that are so different from crypto communities across maybe Southeast Asia or the US or Europe or different other spaces?

13:19

Gerald

Okay, so Africa or Nigeria is so unique because we have diverse kind of people, different cultures and tradition and a very large population of young people. And we here in Africa, we are experiencing a surge in crypto adoption with more individuals and businesses trying to explore cryptocurrency as an alternative to traditional finance system. So in a continent filled with youthful and tech savvy population, cryptocurrency has actually been an instrument in driving the interest of people. Because here we have challenges like inflation, we have challenges like cross border payments, we have challenges like regulations, and people tend to see how they can use cryptocurrency to bypass all these challenges. And cryptocurrency, Web3 in general are being viewed as potential tools to promote financial inclusion, especially in regions with limited access to traditional banking system. For example, here in Nigeria, we have lots of people that are unbanked and people are looking for alternative ways of boycotting these challenges.

14:46

Gerald

And there's a whole lot going on here. People are also trying to use cryptocurrency here, using it in the other side or the other purpose of its creation. So using it for a whole lot. Yes, we understand this, but we've been in this game and we are telling people that they can understand what cryptocurrency is, they can understand how they can come into cryptocurrency and take this as a professional career. People also have the challenge of crypto is volatile. People don't really understand what it is for it to be volatile. That is why we talk about education. And with education you can actually break these barriers of people trying to ask questions that they should know in the first place. So the challenges like inflation that is affecting the land currently, the challenges like regulations, we have lots of regulatory challenges. Challenges exist in our region a whole lot.

15:58

Gerald

And with unsetting regulatory environments, we have lots of impacts that it has actually brought upon. And thank God, recently the last government that passed in Nigeria brought up a blockchain national Blockchain policy, which is like a big step to the government trying to open its arms for blockchain and innovation. Because in the time past we have, we had a ban on cryptocurrency transactions from the banks to retail traders. And it brought about a whole lot because we had people in the 80s, people, old people for example, that had children or relatives abroad, sending them money through remittance. And the best way for them to convert this money were maybe P2P and true cryptocurrency. And because of that ban, they had to look for alternative means of maybe going back to the bank. So there's a whole lot of challenge from educational challenge people.

17:07

Gerald

We need to start dropping cryptocurrency education to the least of the list because I feel the cryptocurrency space is still being hovered around by the same set of people here in Nigeria. So we need to find innovative ways of educating people, even in traditional languages. For example, I went to a park in Nairobi and I saw that you can use bitcoin USDT to pay for various things and I was curious about knowing what brought about those things. And when I asked, the lady was like foreigners that came there or tourists that comes there actually asked for crypto payments and they had to incorporate that as well. And she had to learn it in her own native language and it's because we had people teaching in that language that made her learn that and that has actually given more revenue streams to that business. So there's a whole lot to talk about in Africa when it comes to challenges, but we have lots of people here doing great work to see how they can mitigate the effect of these challenges and also try to do so much for this space.

18:32

Gerald

But we need to do a whole lot that is just it, basically.

18:39

JP

Of course, and it does seem to be quite a challenge to get that together, because you're up against language, you're up against government regulations, you're up against various factors that come into just being able to utilize crypto as a medium of exchange. Right? But on the other hand, I really want to understand from you because you'd be able to offer the listeners here and those that are going to listen to it later as well. What is the community's response to cryptocurrency? Are they really eager for it? Like you said, there's a lot of youth who are tech savvy. They want to explore more, they have ambitions, they have aspirations, and they really want to get into something that isn't restrictive. So are they looking at crypto and web3 as a manner in which to do that? What is the pulse of the people?

19:50

Gerald

Okay, so here, using Nigeria as a case study, building a brand or talking or the cryptocurrency space is challenging due to the passionate and engaged community members that we have already, and people trying to also hop into the space. Education as well, knowledge sharing, because cryptocurrency involves complex concepts. So we also have the diverse perspective and ideologies with crypto communities, which require fostering an inclusive environment to promote things like constructive dialogue. So in Africa is very unique, like I said, and Africa is experiencing, or Nigeria is experiencing a surge in crypto adoption. So there was a report that came up for Africa and Nigeria was stopping the charts when it comes to crypto adoption and people trying to learn about cryptocurrency. So Nigeria is experiencing a surge in crypto adoption with a whole lot of people and individuals trying to explore it. Even businesses are also trying to explore it as an alternative to traditional finance system.

21:03

Gerald

So there's a whole lot of great response that we are seeing because like I said earlier, we have a continent of youthful and tech savvy population that they've been or we've been very instrumental in driving crypto interest. There's a whole lot of communities on ground teaching people about cryptocurrency. There's a whole lot of academies here in Nigeria teaching people about cryptocurrency. All universities, major universities in Nigeria have blockchain clubs in those universities. And this has actually spiked the numbers coming up for people trying to know about this, showing a keen interest in blockchain technology and also digital currency. So here in Nigeria, and I can say this for free, that cryptocurrency is being viewed as a potential tool to promote financial inclusion. People have seen success stories of people who made it from digital currency, web3, and also using it as a professional career for themselves.

22:11

Gerald

ernment to ban it in the year: 2021

23:22

Gerald

But I was using cryptocurrency as an alternative way. So I just had to buy some USDT or take some USDT from the ones I have, change it. And I had my Ghanaian cities even when I went to Nairobi, every single place I've been to. So it's USDT, and we do those transactions. And some Africans see cryptocurrency, or let me just put it, some Nigerians see cryptocurrency as investment opportunity, which is leading to speculative trading. We have lots of traders doing huge volumes here in Nigeria. And I can remember when I was impactful our major market then. Paxf was Nigerian, was a US. Company, and our major market then impactful for years was Nigeria, because of the volumes that we generated for P2P transaction as well. So regulatory challenges that exist in various countries with uncertain environment, like we have lots of uncertain environmental impact of this thing.

24:26

Gerald

It has also hampered some of the growth of the crypto industry. Like I said earlier, using the case where I had a family friend where the guy is based in the US. And the parents are here in Nigeria and they are aged, and he was using cryptocurrency to send phones, and immediately they banned cryptocurrency. They had to go to the normal traditional space, which was very long for them to get through Western Union and monogram and the like. So the rise of crypto and blockchain technology has given, how will I put it, rise to several African startups and projects which are exploring various use cases in different sectors, in agric, in fintech, in logistics. And also, I can tell you for a fact that we are seeing a huge surge here in Africa and it will keep going irrespective of the challenges we have.

25:30

JP

Know. It's interesting that you mentioned that, because that's such a ripe landscape. It sounds that it's a bubbling space of a lot of innovation that can come out of there, a lot of solutions that can be generated from the ground or in collaboration with people across the world. Is that what you're seeing in some of these areas?

25:55

Gerald

Okay, so like I said, the crypto landscape of the Web3 landscape in Africa is very interesting and ripe. And the changing landscape of cryptocurrency and blockchain adoption in Africa is driven by various factors such as efforts to promote financial inclusion. So we have unemployment rates here in Nigeria, for example. We have cost of living going up by the day. We have a whole lot of things. And because of these, the need to promote financial inclusion has gone up so much. The youthful and also tech savvy population that we have in Nigeria or in Africa is also a factor that is changing the landscape of cryptocurrency in Africa. The need for faster and cheaper cross border transaction, rising entrepreneurship, and also startup activities, regulatory frameworks, widespread of mobile penetration, all these are also factors that are changing the African landscape that we have today. Currency volatility concerns.

27:18

Gerald

We have like a general problem now in Nigeria where our currency is being devalued. And also the naira is floating like a free window to the dollar. And today the price for a dollar is 857 naira, compared 857 naira to a dollar. And yesterday it was maybe 830, today 857, tomorrow it might be maybe 90 or 900. So because of these things, people are looking for alternative ways of doing business, people are looking for alternative ways of saving because maybe the 1 million naira you have in your account at the beginning of this year, currently, now you've lost almost 200,000. So having maybe 860,000 naira in your account because of the volatility inflation and devaluation of the currency. So educational awareness initiative is also like a factor that is changing the African landscape, the African crypto landscape that we have. While these factors are contributing to the growing interest in cryptocurrency, challenges like regulatory uncertainties and cybersecurity concerns like I made mention of where people are using cryptocurrency now for bad instead of good here in the continent.

28:43

Gerald

But with these challenges, we still have amazing innovative builders building long term solutions in the crypto space based here in Africa, based here in Nigeria. As to there's need for us to address this issue because we understand that it will bring up sustainable adoption of cryptocurrency, foreign direct investment of web3 companies and also funding in the space.

29:18

JP

triple digit increases since: 2021

30:20

Gerald

Okay, so like you said, yes, it's very interesting seeing lots of investments coming up here into Africa. And because the future of Web3 and the crypto industry is expected to witness mass adoption and integration with traditional systems, so DeFi projects will continue to grow while having an interoperability. So trying to integrate it into other systems will improve. So we are seeing lots of investment going into decentralized finance projects because of scalability solutions that we are seeing that we improve CBDCs and NFTs, we are seeing that lots of countries in Africa are trying to develop their own central bank. Digital currencies. And NFTs will also play a significant role where we're seeing lots of money going into privacy and security measures for it to be enhanced. So clearer regulations and also decentralized Internet are also on the horizon, contributing to global finance, the increase in Web Three project, influx of money into Africa for Web3 based projects.

31:43

Gerald

So in: 2021

33:20

Gerald

So regulatory changes will also come and we'll see market trends will also be in the picture. So there's a whole lot when it comes to investments and also projects and also money coming into Africa. There's a whole lot to be done in Africa, and I see a future feud with more.

33:42

JP

Well, indeed, one of your statements sparked a little curiosity. Is the government of Nigeria taking a stand on developing CBDCs for Nigeria?

33:55

Gerald

Okay, yes. So we have CBDC, it's called the eNaira, built on a blockchain by a private blockchain. But the version 1.0 was a field project, sort of because they built something that people do not understand. So largely, people do not buy what they don't know. So for people to buy a product, that product should be safe, secured, easy to use, and very understandable because people are naturally lazy. And for you to do anything, you need to teach people about this thing. You need to create awareness about it. And the government built a project, the eNaira version one, which was a failed project to many because people do not know how to use it. So here in Nigeria, a whole lot of people have bank accounts compared to maybe some other parts of Africa. A whole lot of people have bank accounts, but they solely rely on that bank account.

34:56

Gerald

And the government did little or nothing to educate its citizens about how to incorporate eNaira into their daily lives. So people did not understand how to use the eNaira. And in a population of over 220,000,000 people, where we have lots of market possibilities for Africans here, for Nigerians, and also for the government didn't take advantage of that. But there's a version 2.0 coming up, and I believe they are in partnership with various organizations to also school, various schools, various companies, and all to see how they can do grassroots awareness for how to use the eNaira. So, yes, we have the eNaira in Nigeria, but the version one was like a failed project, but they are currently developing the version two.

35:58

JP

Wow. Okay. So certainly exciting times ahead. And it keeps striking me that there's a lot of development that's going on the ground that a lot more people should have a spotlight on. So, once again, thank you for being on the show, because that's exactly what we're doing. We're putting a spotlight on the fantastic developments that are happening across Nigeria as well as the African continent. Now, Gerard, that being said, I'm certain that in the thick of this, through all this movement, you being with know there are some directives, there are some unique initiatives that you are taking to develop this further in Nigeria and of course, across the African continent, right across the African landscape. Tell us a little about LBank as an exchange and what it's doing differently, because it's fairly obvious that there is so much of scope, but paint us a picture about what are some of the wonderful things you guys are doing.

37:08

Gerald

ated or started operations in: 2015

38:23

Gerald

million as a: 2021

39:41

Gerald

And last year we had the Isolation program that we talked about, and we had to incorporate over ten companies out of the 17 that went through that stage with us. So we have lots of products and lots of projects coming up. And these projects and also products are geared to this part of the world because the P2P team started as the face where Nigerians were asking LBank to bring up the P2P markets where they can trade cryptocurrencies and various tokens pet to pet. So there's a whole lot to talk about. Because as an exchange, doing that amount of volume, we've had this track record of trying to serve our customers better, having a very strict respond when it comes to customer success management, because we have lots of representatives in over 16 countries. Having an office in China, having a regional office in Dubai that is operatable, and having the LBank office in San Francisco, LBank Labs office in San Francisco, California.

41:01

Gerald

And the next LBank Labs office will be coming in Nigeria, maybe Lagos and Abuja very soon. And that will be like the first in Africa. So there's a whole lot that we are doing, and I would just like to stop here maybe because of time.

41:21

JP

I'm happy for you, and I'm really glad that they're expanding, and then they're going to have an office right where you are. I've met some of your friends from LBank in the Dubai office. Absolutely brilliant folk. And that's also one of the reasons I personally know that LBank invests so much into community, into doing something for the community there. So it's fascinating. Now, while we're on that thought, what I wanted to understand was, of course, you'll have a number of programs that benefit projects that come to you from two particular aspects, right? So the first one is, what are the kind of projects that you're seeing that reach out to you that are looking to either list or that seem to be successful? Specifically with your location.

42:20

Gerald

Okay, so for us, we have an influx of projects majorly from Southeast Asia. But for African projects, we've seen agricultural based projects. We've seen projects that are green, for example, UN based projects that are green evolution, green life and all that have tokens that can be used for various other things. Other things come up from this part of the world. And we've also seen meme Tokens as well for projects coming out from this part of the world and also some innovative projects that are infrastructural in their own spheres, for example, some fintech projects that are just trying to see how they can scale. So we've had that approach a whole lot of time, seeing few fintech startup projects that have Tokens in their roadmap to launch. So they've come to us to ask the requirements for them to launch when they are ready to launch.

43:40

Gerald

But the major projects that come into the space from these regions are agricultural based projects that have Tokens on them, mem projects and meme Tokens because we also have a fund like $10 million to support those projects as well. And also like startup fintech projects that are coming up and also have Tokenization or have Token in their roadmap approaching us for inquiries on how they can list. And we've seen those success rates in the top three that I just mentioned. Yeah.

44:24

JP

I'm also looking forward to maybe a mark Angel Meme point coming up at some point.

44:32

Gerald

Yes, that would be great as well.

44:37

JP

Awesome. Okay, great. So it's good to see that there are specific sectors of interest, and I particularly like the fact that you mentioned that you see a lot of investments that are going into SDG based projects, things that are agriculture based or green based, maybe even with reference to water. Do you anticipate that you're going to see more of these projects over the next, say, three years or five year horizon?

45:07

Gerald

rk, and I believe from now to: 2030

46:35

Gerald

So for me, yes, it's a possibility and we've seen it ones or twos and we start seeing them in tens and hundreds as we proceed. Thank you.

46:47

JP

Well, that's awesome. Let's hope that is exactly how it goes out. And at this point, I want to pivot a little bit into you're seeing a lot of projects, you're seeing a lot of investment. It's nascent at this point as it's growing, there's obviously going to be some amount of vulnerabilities that is there some manner that there is a focus on security and safety when it comes to your crypto assets through LBank and some of the innovations happening in Nigeria.

47:26

Gerald

Okay, so to ensure the safety and professionalism of services of global crypto users, crypto companies, crypto business, and all companies that are coming in, or companies that are here are most focused on robust security measures. So like I talked about before, there's a security gap or breach in the system where some people are now using it to scam people, or people are coming up with projects to rock fool people and scam people as well. So companies, like I said, must focus on robust security measures, compliance with regulations, transparent operations, user support, education, insurance coverage, there's a whole lot reputable partnerships. So for us, the company, before listing any projects, we have guidelines for you to follow so that you don't come and list projects that will inflict harm on various people. So user reviews and feedback, clear terms and conditions, regular updates and social responsibilities, these are things that companies need to invest in for us to have a saner crypto environment in our continent and our country and the world at large.

48:54

Gerald

So these practices build trust, they protect users assets and also contributes to long term growth of the crypto industry. So I believe since we had the FTX event, the other cryptocurrency companies that folded up and also we've had better or we've had people now being cautious of building projects people building for the long term, though, being cautious of building projects for the people and also having this project be project that is safe, secured and also easy to use. So for companies to thrive in this our climb, they have to inculcate all the practices that I mentioned because this will build trust, it will protect their users and also our users as a company and it will contribute to long term growth of the crypto industry. People will not be afraid of coming in because of the security breach and all government to be free to lend in their voice, because government, we actually need government in doing things because they make the whole spread of adoption go faster.

50:18

JP

Well, it's good to hear that's exactly what's happening. That's the focus that people are bringing to that space and that's good. I'm also now curious about one additional aspect, right? But before I do that, I want to remind the audience that towards the end of the show, we're going to have a question answer round. You can send questions across to our speaker either directly on twitter, or you can send them in to AdLunam Inc., my team will pick it up, and hopefully we have time to ask that on the show. But coming back to this particular one of the things that you often have to through this process of education is to get people to understand it. And you gave us a classic example when you said about the CBDCs, sorry, the eNaira that was rolled out, and people not really understanding it completely right.

51:20

JP

But at this point of time, when people tell you that, hey, you know what, I want to stick to my traditional method of finance, my traditional currency, and crypto is so volatile, what are some of the answers that you can give them? And especially given that the landscape is new in Nigeria and across the community in Africa?

51:48

Gerald

Okay, so, yes, that is like a very big question. We often get why trying to do education and awareness and all, especially for a particular set of people, maybe the aged or the elderly or the middle class people. And also, there's a whole misconception about cryptocurrency for people. So people, when people hear about cryptocurrency, for example, Nigeria, some people, they think it's something that people use for fraud. When people hear about cryptocurrency, they just remember maybe their friend or their mom or their sister that lost money in cryptocurrency investment. Because there was a time in Nigeria that a whole lot of companies came up with investment schemes and they were paying out with cryptocurrency. The popular one was MMM. So it was very popular in Nigeria, where people lost a whole lot of money and they were paying out in cryptocurrency. So that was people's first encounter of cryptocurrency.

52:57

Gerald

And when they hear that anything about cryptocurrency, they just remember, MMM, they remember raxtelli, they remember FX farms and the likes of those investments that came up that they were paying in cryptocurrency. I've seen that in other parts of Africa as well. So people have lots of misconception, and one of the biggest misconception is also the volatility of cryptocurrency. But we try to tell them that even our normal traditional, maybe foreign exchange that people think is also volatile, the stocks, the bonds, everything we do is volatile and everything is a risk. But they need to invest in education. So if they invest in education, they know that. They know what is the underlying factor of seeing bitcoin in a particular level, or seeing ethereum in a particular level. So we talk about education first, not for them to even come and invest, because when they hear cryptocurrency, they think about investments and they don't want their money to go because the money can come down.

54:03

Gerald

So the number one point of call is for them to come and get educated, come and understand how cryptocurrency works. Come and understand that you can incorporate blockchain technology, which is the underlying technology of cryptocurrency, to various phase of life, to agriculture, to governance, to logistics, to politics. Just mention it. For example, I have a friend that works with the World Food Program, an agency under the United Nations. And this guy knows nothing about cryptocurrency and blockchain technology. But he was saying that they had to incorporate blockchain tracking system into their tracking method. For example, what their work is like. The World Food Program is to supply countries faced with drought, farming, crisis with food seedlings, and help all across the world. Let's take for example, here in Nigeria, the Northeast, that is maybe faced with some sort of crisis. If they send food from maybe Geneva, Switzerland to Yobe state or to Boronu Meduguri State here in Nigeria when the food lands in maybe Morita La Mohammed International Airport in Lagos or the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport here in the city that I reside Abuja the Federal Capital territory.

55:32

Gerald

It might not get to where it's going to, or not all will get to where it's going to because people have various ways of doing things. So they have to incorporate blockchain tracking system into the whole it framework of the World Food Program. It has reduced theft, it has reduced mismanagement to 80% from 40% that they will have. So this guy had to go on the school, learn about blockchain, this guy had to go learn about cryptocurrency. And this is what we tell people to study the underlying technology that powers cryptocurrency, because the time we come, cryptocurrency might not really be very prominent or might not be like with the whole noise now it will be blockchain and all other things like all other things under it. So we sell the value of blockchain technology because when they understand blockchain, they understand cryptocurrency, they will be in a better position to make informed decision on which currency to buy.

56:42

Gerald

And they will understand that most of these currencies or most of these digital assets are for long term, not for short term.

56:51

JP

Right? Wow. I think you've hit the nail on the head here. I think that more people, the more they understand the technology behind it, the more focused they can be on the utility of it. And that's a fantastic strategy to go, okay, we've come to the end of our time and there's still so many questions I want to ask you. But I'm going to ask you this, just one question. You've told us a lot about your background, about your passion, the book that you've written, the landscape across Africa, the promise that it holds, especially when it comes to innovation, investment. And through all of that, one of these points have been clearly evident, is that you're very passionate about what you're doing. So my question to you is, what is your personal philosophy and what keeps you going every morning okay?

57:55

Gerald

So for me, I have this mentor. You might know the mentor. He's like the ruler of the United. He's a mentor I've not seen before. So he's like a mentor from afar and like a romantic, someone I always try to copy. So his name is Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, the crown ruler of Dubai and the vice president of the United Arab Emirates. And why I like that man so much and his policies is because of how he values knowledge and education. So for me, knowledge is power. And the application of knowledge is even more powerful than you even knowing about something in the first place. So innovation, knowledge is what drives innovation. So every single day of my life, I wake up and I just want to learn new things. I just want to learn something new about what I know. I just want to unlearn what I know and relearn something.

58:55

Gerald

So for someone to use over 1 billion dirhams to build the biggest library in the world situated in Dubai for his people to learn, because he knows that, he says that knowledge is what drives innovation, because without you knowing, you might not become so for me, knowledge is like what has kept me going. And every single time, okay, for example, I'm not very active on Twitter, but you can find me on LinkedIn. I sleep on LinkedIn. I'm very active there. And I give out the things I know based on what I do. And I talk about Africa a lot. I talk about the job I do. I talk about United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. And every single day I try to know more, and it has always kept me. And also, people are like, the biggest blessings I've had. I've met lots of amazing people that have helped me in my career, and I've met lots of amazing people that have also helped as well.

:: 00:02

Gerald

And meeting these people every single day or having my close circle have taught me so much about life, and there's so much to learn from people as well. So people and knowledge have kept me going thus far, and I just hope I can keep doing more and keep doing more. Thank you.

:: 00:26

JP

Well, that's brilliant, Gerald, thank you so much for sharing that with us today. Indeed, Sheikh Mohammed is a huge inspiration to everyone because for anyone who's tracked what the Middle East has been like over the last 25 years, you've seen remarkable changes. And he's been at the forefront of a lot of that along steam. Thank you for sharing that. I know we've come to the end of the show, but one quick question. This is coming from LH, and what he's asking is, how big is the LBank community in Nigeria, and what are some of the things that you love about them?

:: 01:14

Gerald

Okay, sorry, I didn't get the last part. What are some of the things that?

:: 01:19

JP

You love about the community.

:: 01:24

Gerald

Okay. So we have, like a very robust community in Nigeria, and we've done lots of amazing work, collaborated with various projects, gone for various events, done amazing things in Nigeria. Not just Nigeria, in West Africa and also other parts of the world. So the community is vibrant. We have like an LBank Africa community, but it's majorly for Nigeria. On Telegram, we have various people that have done a whole lot for themselves, people eager to learn, people that have gotten lots of opportunities from airdrops, from jobs, from internship opportunities from that particular community. So one of the biggest thing I love about that place is my ability to give out knowledge from what I know, my ability to give people those opportunities that they seek. We have people in that community that have actually done so much for themselves. We've had people in that community that have actually gotten jobs for themselves, gotten internship opportunities, volunteering opportunities for them to scale up their career aside from what we do every day.

:: 02:43

Gerald

So we have, like Master classes going on every single week. Twitter Spaces, Webinars Incubation programs, LBank affiliates programs, LBank Angels programs, lots of amazing programs that we have in that communities, in that community. And we are also seeing or trying to do more to help or to boost our communities. Because I actually believe in rewarding your community, because it's the community that actually make up that business, or it's our community that actually make up LBank as we have.

:: 03:22

JP

It awesome. Thank you so much once again for being on the show, Gerard. It's been extremely insightful getting an idea about the landscape, about the potential and certainly about the future of what we can expect from Africa. So thank you so much for being on the show today.

:: 03:41

Gerald

Thank you so much for having me. I am super excited to be here to share, from what I know. And thank you. Thanks to Adlunam, thanks to everyone that reached out to me, thanks to everyone that also availed themselves to be here out of their busy schedule. Let's keep learning. Let's keep on learning, and let's keep relearning, because there's a whole lot of opportunities in this piece, basically.

:: 04:11

JP

Thank you indeed. And thank you once again, ladies and gentlemen, for being on the show. We back next week at the same time in the same place with more for you on Diving into Crypto. This is JP from AdLunam Inc. bringing you everything about Web3. Signing off, Cheers.