Electronic money in Africa

Bitcoin is always a popular topic in class, but some of the most interesting experiments with electronic money are in Africa. With Kenya’s M-Pesa, people pay bills with mobile phone minutes. It’s a simpler technology than Bitcoin, but perhaps more useful for precisely that reason. This striking map shows similar innovation throughout Africa and the developing world.

So next time I’m asked whether electronic money has a future, I have a better answer:  Yes, it does, and the future’s already here in Kenya, South Africa, Nigeria, India, Indonesia, …