Introduction to Africa’s Banking Crisis

360 million adults in Sub-Saharan Africa don’t have access to any bank account — roughly 17% of the global unbanked population concentrated in a single continent. What’s more, Africa’s top ten banks averaged $867 million in profit in 2024 — yet, they only served the elite, while the rest of the population remained completely locked out.

The Broken Banking Model

Maximum profits, minimum reach — that’s African banking in four words. And this broken model won’t suddenly start working. Africa needs to skip banks altogether. In fact, countries in Asia faced the same problem and have successfully embraced tokenization as a parallel financial system to reduce the number of their unbanked citizens.

Tokenization as a Solution

Why shouldn’t Africa take the same path? The infrastructure for tokenization already exists. Africa already has the infrastructure to build a parallel financial system. The continent processed $1.1 trillion in mobile money transactions in 2024, accounting for 65% of global mobile money transaction value.

Success Stories

Mobile money succeeded where banks failed — it met people where they were, with the technology they already had. Now, tokenization takes that same playbook and applies it to actual assets. Consider an artisanal miner in Tanzania. Up to 40% of Africa’s gold is undeclared, with an estimated $30 billion smuggled annually, largely because small-scale miners don’t have access to formal markets.

Tokenization in Action

Tokenization changes that equation. By representing physical gold digitally on secure blockchain platforms, tokenization enables traceable, near-instant cross-border trade. The same smartphone that powers mobile money will be able to hold fractional ownership in gold, copper mines, or agricultural commodities. And projects across the continent already prove tokenization works for Africa’s unbanked populations.

Real-World Examples

For example, Kenya’s “One Million Avocados” project now tokenizes entire orchards and gives farmers access to capital, training, and direct market connections. Ghana’s new Gold Board is introducing blockchain-based tracking to formalize production and curb smuggling. Tokenization won’t need bank branches to reach everyone. The general public would access assets directly through their phones — the same phones they already use for mobile money.

The Missing Piece in Africa’s Wealth Equation

Getting a bank account doesn’t build wealth when your currency loses 30% annually. The path from working class to middle class becomes a treadmill that never stops. You earn more but somehow afford less. Your savings evaporate through no fault of your own. The wealthy already know the answer: own gold. But most people don’t understand what makes gold so powerful.

The Power of Gold

This metal appreciated 1,000% since 2000, 100% over the past five years, and 35% since January alone. Unlike abstract investments, you can claim physical gold at your doorstep — tangible wealth you actually hold. When regulated, insured, and audited platforms tokenize gold, they combine centuries of proven value with modern safeguards. The result is accessible and secure wealth protection.

Democratizing Wealth Protection

Gold has traditionally been a hedge against inflation, market instability, and currency devaluation. And tokenization can democratize this protection. Our flagship product at Ubuntu Tribe, GIFT Gold, represents just 1 milligram of gold — worth about 10 US cents. A teacher in Ghana can now save in gold. A small business owner in Kenya can preserve capital between harvests.

Building Real Wealth

Once people can protect what they earn, they start building real wealth. Studies show that gold and silver provide effective hedging against inflation risks in African countries like Ghana, Morocco, Namibia, South Africa, and Tanzania. When savings hold their value, people can actually think about tomorrow. They invest in businesses, buy property, and fund education.

The Future of Africa’s Middle Class

The African Development Bank projects the middle class will grow from 355 million in 2010 to 1.1 billion by 2060 — but only if these aspiring millions can protect what they earn. Tokenization offers a solution to this problem. By providing a secure and accessible way to own gold and other assets, tokenization can help Africans build real wealth and achieve financial stability.

The Importance of Transparency

Tokenization without proof is just digital fraud. Tokenization without transparency is just FTX with extra steps. FTX owed creditors at least $8 billion when it collapsed, with customer funds mysteriously vanishing into accounts controlled by Alameda Research. African investors lost millions. The same trust problem that killed FTX now threatens every tokenized asset — unless we build differently.

Proof of Reserve

Proof of reserve provides both the growing DeFi ecosystem and the traditional financial system with a way to boost the transparency of their operations through definitive on-chain proof of any asset’s true collateralization. Every tokenized gold certificate, every fractional mine ownership, every agricultural commodity token needs verifiable backing. Real-time cryptographic proof replaces promises and outdated quarterly audits.

Implementing Proof of Reserve

And we’ve implemented this in Ubuntu Tribe. Our Track-n-Trace system provides real-time gold logistics and supply chain transparency, publicly accessible 24/7, with proof of reserves from trusted institutions. Anyone can verify that their GIFT tokens represent actual gold in Swiss, German, or Dubai vaults. The system eliminates black boxes and “trust us” statements entirely.

The Path Forward

Banks had their chance. They chose record profits over 360 million potential customers. They built branches in wealthy neighborhoods while rural communities stored cash under mattresses. That model won’t suddenly change — banks make too much money from exclusion to embrace inclusion. Tokenization offers Africa a different path. Not a better banking system, but a replacement for banks entirely.

Conclusion

Mobile money proved Africans will adopt digital finance when it actually serves them. Now, tokenized assets turn that same infrastructure into real wealth-building tools. Gold that anyone can own. Commodities that farmers can trade. Savings that hold value against currency collapse. The path forward is already clear. Visit bitpulse for more information on tokenization and its potential to transform Africa’s financial landscape.

About the Author

Mamadou Kwidjim Toure built his career dismantling financial barriers across Africa. After two decades executing over $25 billion in transactions at KPMG, BNP Paribas, and IBM, he understood how traditional capital markets systematically excluded entire continents from wealth creation. Forbes recognized him as one of the Top 10 Most Influential Men in Africa, but Mamadou was already solving a bigger problem: connecting African entrepreneurs to global investment flows that had historically bypassed the region. He launched Ubuntu Group in 2015 to bridge this capital gap. The venture’s breakthrough came with Ubuntu Tribe, which democratized precious metal investing through digital gold tokens. The African Bankers Awards recognized the innovation as a finalist in 2019.