Togolese Activist Teaches People to Use Bitcoin to Detach From Corrupt Money Systems

Her 20 years of activism led right into her bitcoin era.

Togolese activist Farida Nabourema has connected her passion for freeing people from unjust systems with her most recent mission to liberate people from exploitative money systems, organizing Africa’s first and largest bitcoin event, the Africa Bitcoin Conference.

According to TechCabal, Nabourema organized the conference last year after realizing the potential for bitcoin to be used as a political tool to help facilitate human rights, liberating people from corrupt money systems.

“One of the things we wanted to achieve with this conference was to make people understand that bitcoin is serious business,” Nabourema said. “It is a technology on which multiple things can be built.

“We wanted to organize a conference that prioritized panels on its philosophy and why it is imperative to break free from exploitative monetary and financial systems, rather than just discussions on how much it costs and how much you can make from it. This is something we successfully accomplished and our participants really appreciated that,” she said.

With Africa as the propellers of the currency and having the fastest bitcoin adoption rate on the globe, Nabourema wants more African voices present in the bitcoin space.

The future of bitcoin is in Africa, where people really need it. pic.twitter.com/LThgWzdyzW

— Africa ₿itcoin Community (@AfroBitcoinOrg) January 17, 2023

“It’s essential for us to organize our own conferences on the continent that brings together the people working in this space, whether it is the technologists, the researchers, or the activists, putting them together to discuss challenges, opportunities, and innovations that are directly tailored to our realities in Africa,” she said.

Nabourema is working to be a part of the progress where her community no longer needs to heavily rely on middlemen or government institutions to convert bitcoin into cash.

“It’s going to take time, but we’re going to get there,” she said.

The three-day Africa Bitcoin Conference took place in December 2022.