Kwame Rugunda – Chairman, Blockchain Association of Uganda and CEO, CryptoSavannahThe Grey Ave Podcast recently had a chat with Kwame Rugunda of Uganda to discuss crypto and blockchain.
Kwame Rugunda is the chairman of the Blockchain Association of Uganda and the CEO of CryptoSavannah, the leading blockchain and crypto firm focused on advisory, building solutions, and training.
Kwame is an electrical and engineering graduate with a Master degrees in Public Administration from Harvard Kennedy School of Government. He is also currently serving on the recently instituted National Taskforce on Blockchain and 4IR Technologies.
Speaking on the early developments that led to the current state of the crypto revolution, Kwame said:
“Until the revolution that was seen by mobile phones, we had about 3 million bank accounts run by 25 banks serving a population of about 45 million people. When the mobile revolution sparked, it significantly increased the number of people who had access to financial services from 3 million to 21 million people.”
Kwame proceeded to highlight the limits of mobile money such as in micro-payments which is where crypto comes in enabling cheaper transactions, essentially increasing inclusion and disrupting the remittance and last-mile financial provisioning.
Speaking on Regulation
Kwame speaking at a Press Conference during the 2018 African Blockchain Association Conference, Kampala, UgandaAccording to Kwame, regulatory bodies and government are still trying to make sense of these new and emerging technologies. In addition, established systems are definitely fighting back realizing the disruptive nature of these technologies.
“Currently, there is a streamlining of understanding.” says Kwame.
Discussing the Free-Trade Area, Kwame also believes this will significantly boost Africa’s growth and open up opportunities for peer-to-peer finance.
“I see a stablecoin, pegged on an African asset, issued by a form of central authority taking over. Once its accepted at the leadership level, it will easily penetrate the market.” Says Kwame.
Speaking on the progress made in Uganda, Kwame spoke on real use cases happening in Uganda such as purchasing cars using crypto, application development on blockchain and numerous proof-of-concepts are also coming up in Uganda.
