The popularity of cryptocurrencies in Sub-Saharan Africa, especially among the youth, cannot be underestimated.
According to Chainalysis, the region’s cryptocurrency use increased 1,200% last year, making it the third-fastest growing cryptocurrency economy. peer-to-peer traders in Kenya

MARA has received $23 million in funding from Coinbase Ventures, Alameda Research, Huobi Ventures, and other significant venture capital and angel investors.
The exchange will begin operations in Kenya and Nigeria, providing new customers with a basic exchange platform for acquiring, trading, and withdrawing bitcoins.

Professional traders will be able to use the platform’s full trading options and trend analysis capabilities.
Decentralized applications in the MARA ecosystem will be possible thanks to the development of the MARA chain, a layer-1 blockchain.

The MARA team also confirmed that a partnership with the Central African Republic had been set up.
In April 2022, the African country followed the lead of pro-Bitcoin (BTC) state El Salvador and made Bitcoin legal money.
MARA will be the country’s official cryptocurrency partner, and it will give the government advice on best practices, strategy, and planning as the country tries to use cryptocurrencies more widely.

From an interview with Chi Nnadi, CEO and co-founder of MARA, we can learn more about how the exchange got started and what opportunities Africa has to offer the new platform.
After living in Nigeria for most of the last ten years, Chi just moved to Kenya before the idea behind MARA became clear.

MARA chose to launch its offering in Nigeria and Kenya because they are two of the most popular places in Africa for people to use cryptocurrencies.
Chainalysis says that Kenya has more peer-to-peer (P2P) trades than any other country and that 35% of Nigerian adults own or trade in Bitcoin. cryptocurrencies in Sub-Saharan Africa

While African countries continue to account for new cryptocurrency users, Nnadi conceded that there are still considerable hurdles in the way of Sub-Saharan Africa’s young and technologically-native population making crypto a part of their everyday lives:

As for MARA’s role as a crypto partner for the Central African Republic, Nnadi said that the company would act as a consultant as the country looks to embrace the crypto economy.
This will include advice on how to build the infrastructure needed for Know Your Customer (KYC), Anti-Money Laundering (AML), and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (CFT). This includes standardizing personal identification documents to make sure the country and its five million citizens have a solid foundation. cryptocurrencies in Sub-Saharan Africa