I have been thinking hard about how 2018 had been very challenging for most businesses in Nigeria especially online where most Nigerians are still having a difficult time converting their valuable products and services into profitable online ventures.
I'd been particularly silent on this matter because I had not seen any interesting growth in the last 9 years in 2015 (last time I posted "news"). I was keeping an eye on the industry but all I was posting were merely opinions from hype men that didn't necessarily provide any real business solutions to large Numbers of Nigerians.
I'm coming out to talk now because yes we have something to discuss about. There are changes and we can all leverage on these changes for business growth and profit especially in 2019.
In the past, I have discussed about IoT - Internet of Things, Payment systems e.g PayPal, e-commerce companies like Konga, Tech Entrepreneurs like Raymond Njoku and more but while I was having a conversation with an old friend today, my attention was called to Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain and Big Data as well and how these are the next level technologies. I agree but I wonder how these will affect Nigerian startups in 2019
So here it goes: The reason I thought I must write this blog tonight is to call your attention to the new FINTECH disruption that is about to happen through Facebook and WhatsApp. It is a Facebook stablecoin. In my mind it means that all my WhatsApp contacts can pay me from WhatsApp without necessarily having my bank details and the payment will hit my bank account instantly and I can pull the cash out of the ATM machine or make a payment online using my card. So all my kenyan, Ghanaian, South African, Canadian, American contacts can pay me directly on WhatsApp on my local currency.
Of course it is more technical than that so let's get to it:
Stablecoins are digital currencies pegged to a stable asset, such as gold or fiat currencies, or backed by collateral (that could also be a cryptocurrency), or even an algorithm that governs the approach to expanding and contracting the money supply. The goal of every stablecoin project is to achieve the scale and adoption of modern monetary systems, as a store of value and also as a medium of exchange.
I've been staying away from Cryptocurrencies since I learnt about OneCoin on the day it launched in 2013. I even blogged about it but with Facebook's 2.5 Billion users globally, more than $40 Billion in annual revenues and more experience in navigating regulatory bodies, they stand a better chance than Tether, Basis and 120 other startups in this stablecoins space.
This is just one of the disruptive ideas to look out for in 2019. I will share more as we round up this year. Let's chat about what you are looking out for in 2019. Merry Christmas