Adopting the BASI-coins in Africa. A SWOT Analysis[Adoption des BASI-coins en Afrique. Une analyse SWOT]

The goal of this paper is to discuss the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the decentralized digital currencies in Africa, a region that serves as an incubator for innovations in the decentralized finance sector, but remains somewhat excluded from the field of academic research on these same issues. In addition to providing a comprehensive overview of the current state of the cryptocurrency market (particularly with regard to the categories and underlying technologies), this article relies on a SWOT analysis that draws some lessons and long-term perspectives while respecting the diversity of local and international concerns. It emerges that the popularity of the BASI-coins is built on a triple illusion: that of disintermediation, that of security and that of independence: miners remain essential, and oligopolies are being reconstituted in the cryptosphere which, from this point of view, does not differ from the traditional finance. In addition, even if the macro-financial framework of African countries seems de facto to lend itself to their adoption, it should be noted that their implementation requires addressing several challenges: both in terms of infrastructure (electricity/Internet access) and technology as well as institutional. Moreover, BASI-coins could compete with (future) sovereign digital currencies (Govcoins), and their widespread adoption could destabilize the financial systems due to pressure on foreign exchange reserves.