Sponsored Article Paxful Celebrates News of Noted South African Business School Accepting Bitcoin
Jeff Francis | Apr 03, 2018 | 20:00
Paxful knows that Bitcoin in Africa is making a difference, as is evident by a South African business school now accepting the virtual currency for tuition.
There are a number of factors that can help determine one’s success, such as determination, education, wealth, intelligence, and even luck. Out of these factors, education is often the one that most people have trouble with. They may lack the time, money, or opportunity to gain a proper education to give them a head-start on financial success.
Gaining access to higher education is difficult for many even in Europe and North America, but this access is even further limited in Africa due to a variety of reasons. However, the growing popularity of Bitcoin in Africa is opening up opportunities for gaining a higher education. Which is why Paxful, the peer-to-peer cryptocurrency exchange, is pleased by the news that a prominent South African business school is now accepting Bitcoin for payment.
Grim Facts Concerning Education in Africa
The state of education within the continent of Africa looks pretty grim when compared to many other regions of the world. Africa, sadly, has the highest rate of educational exclusion in the world. Over 20% of children between the ages of 6 and 11 do not attend school. This rate rises to 33% of children between the ages of 12 and 14. In sub-Saharan Africa, close to an astounding 60% of children between 15 and 17 years of age are not in the classroom.
A sobering statistic is that 9 million girls between the ages of 6 and 11, as well as 6 million boys of the same ages, will never set foot in a classroom at all. The quality of teaching is also compromised. Only about 50% of secondary teachers in sub-Saharan Africa have training, and this percentage drops to roughly 25% for pre-primary teachers.
Another educational hurdle facing Africans that Paxful, the P2P finance platform, is very aware of is lack of access to stable financial institutions. A great many people living on the continent are unbanked and have no access to features, such as student loans and grants, that many in the West often take for granted. This is why cryptocurrency has become very important. The growing use of Bitcoin in Africa is opening up financial, as well as educational, opportunities. Case in point is the noted Red & Yellow business school in South Africa.
Bitcoin Offering a Path to Education
While many in Asia and the West view cryptocurrency as an investment or value storage, Bitcoin in Africa is offering a lifeline to a better life. Through cryptocurrency, Africans have access to a global, online economy that they can become active participants of. In addition, cryptocurrency allows Africans to circumvent the rampant inflation found in many of the region’s countries. Now cryptocurrency is boosting educational opportunities.
Red & Yellow is a noted business school in South Africa that seeks to educate students on developing the career skills that are needed in today’s digital world. The school believes that creative thinking is the most important skill one can learn, and they stress that this skill has to be supported by leadership, social intelligence, and adaptability. Needless to say, these attributes are also criteria for the successful growth of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology.
Paxful, the peer-to-peer cryptocurrency exchange, understands that Red & Yellow accepting Bitcoin as a payment option for students is an important event. One, it shows the growing acceptance and versatility of Bitcoin in Africa. In fact, Nigeria and Ghana are the second and third most active countries on the Paxful platform, trailing only the United States. Two, Bitcoin offers many Africans their best chance at gaining an education. As stated above, many individuals have no bank account and absolutely no access to services offered by centralized financial institutions. As such, cryptocurrency allows people a means to generate income that is not battered by regional inflation as well as the ability to use any accumulated earnings to enter higher education in an effort to improve their lives.
In a region that has dealt with, and continues to face, unique challenges, cryptocurrency offers remarkable opportunities for people to take charge of their lives and strive to improve them. Instead of relying upon faulty, centralized institutions, individuals help to lift one another up via the P2P finance ecosystem of the crypto sphere.
The reality of Bitcoin in Africa is that educational opportunities are being increased. Paxful, the peer-to-peer cryptocurrency exchange, knows this first hand. They partnered with Zam Zam Water to build a school in Rwanda that was fully funded by cryptocurrency via the #BuiltwithBitcoin initiative. Now the highly regarded Red & Yellow business school is opening their doors to cryptocurrency, allowing a greater amount of people the chance to get a higher education. While centralized institutions still give cryptocurrency a cold shoulder, the truth is that Bitcoin is changing lives for the better for many Africans.
What do you think about Red & Yellow accepting Bitcoin? Will more schools in South Africa and other African nations follow suit? Let us know in the comments below.
Images courtesy of Pixabay and Wikimedia Commons/@Eugene Malaka.
