Interview With Grey Jabesi: Cryptocurrency And Blockchain Role In Africa

Grey Jabesi is a 24-year-old African entrepreneur, Blockchain enthusiast, cryptocurrency evangelist, analyst and investor. He an autodidact who maintains the company of some of the best minds in business and tech, he takes a practical approach to knowledge and experience building, always with a focus on developing the best possible solutions.

Recently, Jabesi was inducted as new Director of Marketing for The Blockchain Association of Africa and is based in Cape Town.

Extensive Work Experience

With a background in IT and visual communications, he has  worked with big corporates on popular commercial projects but has also been involved with several start-ups. Jabesi is a seasoned podcast and event panel host, a producer of The Grey Ave Podcast, interviewer of prominent business personalities and influencers.

As an entrepreneur, Jabesi is passionate about job creation and growth, particularly in emerging markets. His chief goal is to play a crucial role in nurturing creativity and innovation in Africa to help harness the full potential and explore the lucrative opportunities the continent has to offer. Some of Jabesi’s most prominent qualities include a strong sense of self-empowerment, a curiosity for innovation, and the adaptability and open-mindedness to expand horizons across borders. Always taking a global view, Jabesi is optimistic, forward-thinking, and above all results driven.

Jabesi is very passionate about peer to peer finance and decentralized systems especially for the African continent as it accelerates trade and give Africans an opportunity to do business with the rest of the world in real time.

He has also launched a YouTube channel, Hardcore Crypto, where he educated people about Cryptocurrency daily. Jabesi has always taken the African and global approach to not box himself into one country- South Africa; so his online audiences is spread out in the US and the rest of Africa too.

Through his life’s journey he shows us that we are, indeed, capable of much more than we think, and that we can rise against all odds and achieve anything we set our minds to. In this interview, Grey Jabesi shares with us what Cryptocurrency & Blockchain is and what it means for Africa.

AFRICA.COM: Please give us a brief explanation of what Cryptocurrency & Blockchain is and what does it mean for Africa.

Grey Jabesi:   

Cryptocurrencies – Well the technical explanation is not of much use to most so I like to give an example of Bitcoin. In Layman’s terms, imagine a currency that’s not controlled by any country, corporate institution or an individual. This makes it permissionless, borderless and efficient.

AFRICA.COM: You indicate that your focus has shifted to the Blockchain and cryptocurrencies spaces, because they have the potential to liberate Africans.  What exactly does that mean, and can you provide some examples?

Grey Jabesi:   

The current state of the world is status and permission based. There are always hierarchies who call shots and your fate can easily be determined by them. A good example of this is “sanctions”, someone has the power to kick you out of the economic arena. Africans are already victims to this, the majority are unbanked or do not have the resources to be identified as “people” in the current economic system.

The peer to peer nature of cryptocurrencies empowers everyone including Africans to participate in the economic activity without needing a central authority, for example, banks. This does not only allow them to do business at a local level, but at a global level as well. One can create a product or service and sell it to the entire world, online and get paid instantly and frictionless.

The nature of public Blockchains have the power to eliminate corruption, improve record keeping and help digitize almost any asset. Digitization of assets add an infinite layer of creativity which entrepreneurs can play with and create more value. It also exposes the asset to the global market, very well for fund raising.

AFRICA.COM: Where do you see the cryptocurrency industry headed in the next 10 years?

Grey Jabesi:   

Cryptocurrencies will play a big role in the global economic activities. The crypto products will improve massively to the point that many users won’t even realize that they’re using it. Much like HTTPS today. Sending money will cost almost zero.

AFRICA.COM: We know that you have a creative background and would like to play a role in nurturing creativity and innovation in Africa. Can you explain what this means and why is this important for Africa and for you? 

Grey Jabesi:   

Simply being an African (no matter where you are) exposes you to a whole different view of life that’s very different and unique. There’s great value in the type of creativity that comes from that. If we nurture it, we can build innovative products and services that are out of this world.

AFRICA.COM: Your story of overcoming various life challenges is a wonderful story to focus on. Can you share some examples that could help and inspire other entrepreneurs?

Grey Jabesi:   

The challenges only contributes to building your unique self. I think, owning who you are is very important. You can only be the best at being you. I’m a formal education dropout who loves learning, gangsta rap music, technology and business. In a world where everyone is trying to be the same. I standout. So, take the unique path and embrace the unusual self.

AFRICA.COM: If there were one thought that you want people to recall about you, what would that be?

Grey Jabesi:   

In life, what matters is reality; what actually happens, not what we think or say. If we paid attention to deeds not words, the world would be a much better place. This applies to both personal and collective level.


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