Africa’s fragmented financial markets could make blockchain and stablecoins more useful as financial infrastructure than as speculative assets, according to Mimi Kufuor, group COO of KoinKoin Limited and CEO of KoinKoin Ghana.
Kufuor, whose background spans traditional finance, investment banking, risk, infrastructure and regulation, said digital assets offer a way to address some of the structural inefficiencies created by Africa’s fragmented currencies, payment systems and regulatory regimes.
In a CoinAfrica One-on-One with publisher Louis Dike, Kufuor discussed the evolution of stablecoins, KoinKoin’s regulatory progress in Ghana and Nigeria, institutional adoption, compliance and the role women can play in Africa’s digital-asset industry.
Here are the key takeaways from the conversation.
CoinAfrica: You come from a traditional finance background. What convinced you that blockchain and digital assets could become a meaningful part of Africa’s financial future?
Mimi Kufuor: My background is traditional finance. I’ve worked in sell-side investment banking on the trading floor and in the chief risk office, with experience across infrastructure, finance, markets, regulation and technology.
For me, moving into DeFi was a natural evolution.
But when you look at the realities of Africa, you see a highly fragmented market, currency volatility and different monetary, regulatory and compliance regimes. We have more than 40 currencies, and that creates significant challenges for cross-border trade and remittances.
Blockchain can bridge some of the gaps where traditional finance is falling short.
Africa has a large underserved and underbanked population, and blockchain can help address some of those inefficiencies. In a sense, we’re leapfrogging infrastructure that wasn’t necessarily built to serve Africa and moving toward something more digital, robust, and cost-effective.
CoinAfrica: What is fundamentally broken about the way money moves across Africa today?
Kufuor: For me, the fundamental problem is fragmentation.
Stablecoins and digital assets can make transactions faster, cheaper, and more efficient, but the bigger problem they’re solving is that Africa consists of many different countries and currencies that don’t necessarily speak to each other.
We don’t always settle currencies directly between African countries. There is often a reliance on the US dollar as an intermediary.
Stablecoins can provide a settlement layer where value can move almost instantly and at a fraction of the cost of existing systems.
That has implications for cross-border trade and remittances. If you’re dealing with transactions worth $1 million or more, the savings on transaction costs can be significant. For small and medium-sized businesses, those savings matter.
That’s why I think stablecoins are here to stay, particularly when it comes to cross-border international trade.
I’m also a huge champion of local stablecoins because they could play an important role in intra-African trade.
CoinAfrica: Stablecoins have moved beyond being primarily crypto trading tools. Where are they creating real economic value?
Kufuor: We need to remove stablecoins from the world of crypto and some of the skepticism that comes with it.
They are solving real everyday problems.
Africa is heavily reliant on the US dollar. We import in dollars, our debt is often denominated in dollars, and our currencies don’t always interoperate directly.
That is part of the reason dollar stablecoins have become popular for remittances and cross-border trade.
They make intra-African and international trade easier and cheaper. For SMEs, reducing transaction costs can put more money back into the business.
I think the real value is in cross-border international trade, while local stablecoins could eventually help unlock more intra-African trade.
CoinAfrica: KoinKoin has gained regulatory recognition in both Ghana and Nigeria. What does that mean for the company?
Kufuor: It’s a huge milestone.
Nigeria is one of the world’s largest crypto markets, and it is our biggest market. So seeing the regulatory progression is significant.
For KoinKoin, the opportunity goes beyond being an exchange. We see ourselves increasingly as financial infrastructure connecting banks, payment service providers, fintechs, mobile-money users and SMEs.
We recently signed an institutional partnership with KuCoin, which gives us access to liquidity and, potentially, deeper international markets and products such as tokenized stocks and other tokenized assets.
Our broader objective is to develop a West African corridor, using Ghana and Nigeria as a proof of concept for greater regulatory cooperation and eventually more harmonized cross-border trade.
CoinAfrica: So is KoinKoin ultimately looking beyond the exchange model?
Kufuor: Absolutely. The future is orchestration.
Banks are increasingly interested in participating in digital assets, but many won’t necessarily want to build the infrastructure themselves.
The vision is for a user to be able to say, for example, “Pay this Chinese supplier $1 million,” without needing to understand everything happening underneath.
The infrastructure provider would handle blockchain selection, payment providers, compliance, KYC, and fraud prevention.
Eventually, the goal could look more like a Stripe-style one-stop infrastructure layer where users can buy and sell digital assets, make payments, access cards and virtual accounts, and interact with global financial markets.
Our moat is understanding Africa: the local markets, regulations, and culture. We’re Africans building for Africa, and that local understanding matters.
CoinAfrica: Ghana and Nigeria are taking different approaches to digital-asset regulation. What should the two markets learn from each other?
Kufuor: I don’t necessarily focus on the differences because every country needs to do what is best for its market.
What matters is having some foundation or harmonization around areas such as reporting, AML and KYC.
Ghana has taken a principles-based approach, with more granular guidelines expected as its sandbox progresses. Nigeria has taken a similar approach while embedding digital-asset regulation into existing regulatory structures.
Both countries have created environments where regulators can learn alongside operators, which I think is the right approach.
The regulations need to be clear and proportionate, and they need to reflect African market realities.
Ultimately, I would like to see interoperability and passporting, allowing a VASP recognized in one country to operate across other African markets.
That would help unlock genuine cross-border trade and reduce some of Africa’s dependence on external financial infrastructure.
CoinAfrica: Is compliance becoming a competitive advantage in African crypto?
Kufuor: For now, yes, because compliance is scarce.
Being recognized by regulators gives companies an advantage, particularly because institutional players are more likely to engage with regulated businesses.
But I don’t think compliance should be viewed simply as a cost. Anything that needs to scale requires guardrails, recourse, and accountability.
In five or 10 years, compliance probably won’t be a competitive advantage because everyone serious will need to be compliant.
At that point, non-compliant businesses will struggle to gain users or institutional trust.
CoinAfrica: How does regulation influence the products Coin builds?
Kufuor: Being in a sandbox allows us to bring regulators along on the journey.
If you’re building products that genuinely solve everyday problems, you can demonstrate the use case to regulators and help them understand how the products work.
Regulation also forces companies to consider disclosures, risk assessments, customer protection, and responsible product design.
The industry is moving away from an environment where everything is simply viewed as something that should be banned, toward asking what economic value a product creates, how it affects users, and how those users can be protected.
That is important for mainstream adoption.
I want the average person, including someone who is 70 years old, to have confidence in crypto. There is still skepticism that needs to dissipate before digital assets become truly mainstream.
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CoinAfrica: What should regulators look for before granting a company a full license?
Kufuor: Capital requirements are important because a company needs to be able to withstand financial stress and, where necessary, return customers’ money.
There also needs to be robust AML and KYC processes, customer and business due diligence, transaction monitoring and systems for identifying suspicious activity.
Other important areas include the Travel Rule, reporting, risk assessments, cybersecurity, penetration testing and wind-down plans.
Customer funds also need to be appropriately segregated, while users should understand the fees and risks associated with the products they use.
At the same time, there needs to be respect for data protection. Regulators can receive the information necessary for oversight without companies unnecessarily exposing customers’ personal information.
The goal should be responsible regulation that protects users without unnecessarily restricting innovation.
CoinAfrica: What needs to change before African banks treat blockchain as core infrastructure?
Kufuor: Initially, the biggest issue was regulation.
Banks could not confidently participate when the regulatory environment prohibited or restricted their interaction with crypto companies.
But banks also need the internal resources and technology to participate. They need people who understand digital assets, compliance capabilities, and upgraded technology infrastructure.
That is why partnerships with infrastructure companies could make sense. Rather than every bank building its own digital-asset infrastructure, they could connect to companies that already have it.
The key is for regulators to regulate the activity rather than the technology.
Blockchain is ultimately part of the broader evolution toward digital financial infrastructure.
CoinAfrica: What barriers still need to be dismantled for women in blockchain and fintech?
Kufuor: The industry remains male-dominated, but that is slowly changing.
Women need to support each other and build communities where women can feel comfortable pursuing careers in technology, fintech and blockchain.
But men also have a role to play. They need to mentor and sponsor women into leadership positions.
Kufuor also encouraged women who are curious about the industry not to be intimidated by its technical nature.
“You don’t have to come from a digital-assets background,” she said in essence. The industry itself is evolving, and people are learning as they go.
Her advice is simple: be bold, keep learning, and don’t allow the fact that an industry is male-dominated to stop you from pursuing it.
CoinAfrica: What is most exciting about Africa’s opportunity in digital assets?
Kufuor: Access and owning our narrative.
Digital assets allow Africa to have greater control over its financial narrative and participate more directly in global and local markets.
She also pointed to tokenization as a major opportunity, including tokenized gold, real estate and other real-world assets.
For Kufuor, Africa’s young, technologically savvy population gives the continent a strong foundation to capitalize on that opportunity.
The bigger picture
Kufuor’s argument ultimately goes beyond crypto adoption.
Her thesis is that Africa’s biggest digital-asset opportunity may be infrastructure: infrastructure that allows fragmented markets to connect, enables faster settlement, lowers the cost of cross-border commerce and gives banks and financial institutions a regulated bridge into digital assets.
But regulation will determine how quickly that infrastructure can scale.
For Africa’s digital-asset industry, the next phase may therefore be less about convincing people that crypto exists and more about building the regulatory, technological and institutional infrastructure that makes it useful at scale.
