ZK Rollup’s INTMAX strengthens its expansion in Africa ─ Partnering with Kepple Africa Ventures | CoinDesk JAPAN

When looking at the mass adoption of Web3 from a global perspective, one of the areas that is attracting the most attention is Africa. With a population of 1.4 billion and young people making up the majority of the population, economic growth is expected in the future. It is also a market worthy of attention for Web3 companies that are expanding globally.

Kepple Africa Ventures, which invests in Web3 startups in Africa, announced on January 25th that it has invested in Ryodan Systems, which works on the Ethereum layer 2 project “INTMAX zkRollup” and the wallet “INTMAX Wallet” equipped with the latest cryptographic technology, as well as INTMAX’s Africa announced a strategic partnership to accelerate expansion, particularly in Nigeria.

Among African countries, Nigeria is known for having a large number of crypto-assets holders, as the spread of crypto assets has increased due to macro conditions such as the depreciation of the country’s currency and the shortage of dollars. Cheap remittance services that use crypto assets are also becoming more widespread.

In Nigeria, in 2021, the central bank banned financial institutions from providing services to crypto companies, but this did not stop users from shifting to peer-to-peer (P2P) transactions. With the bank reversing this ban at the end of 2023, it is expected to become more popular.

Nigeria is a market with huge opportunities for INTMAX, which achieves near-zero fees with ZK Rollup. The company announced in November last year that it would strengthen its efforts in Nigeria after completing a strategic round.

Furthermore, the potential of the African market is also covered by “btokyo club,” a limited paid community service centered on business leaders of major companies that research Web3, developed by N.Avenue, which operates CoinDesk JAPAN.

Related article: Is Africa’s positivity needed to boost Japan’s excitement through Web3?[btokyo club round table report]

Many people in the Global South, including Africa, do not have bank accounts because their financial infrastructure is not sufficiently developed. However, because of this, there is a possibility that the use of blockchain will progress all at once, like a leapfrog.

｜Text/Editing: CoinDesk JAPAN Editorial Department
｜Image: Business district of Abuja, the capital of Nigeria (Shutterstock)