It's a thing of joy to see Africans catching up and enjoying the benefits of modern technology that the internet offers.
Many people here now utilise internet banking, social media advertising, online work platforms and blogs to generate income. The online payments became even better with the introduction of cryptocurrency. Now you don't have to wait two weeks to months to process a USD payment as you can send crypto and get paid in minutes.
As an african, working online has its advantages. For one, you get paid in USD. This is a major bonus due to the high exchange rate of USD to local currency(for example, $1 = ₦363). Some people make up to $200 a month online. It may not seem like a lot to outsiders, but here in Nigeria minimum wage is ₦18,000 monthly(officially) with many businesses paying workers as low as ₦8000. $200 is worth ₦72,600 so yeah, it is heavily appreciated.
Compare that to the minimum wage in the US. This article shows that the Federal government has stated a minimum wage of $7.25 per HOUR which equates to ₦2631.75(7.25 x 363) per hour and in a normal 9-5 shift that would mean you made ₦21,050. That's more money in a day than a Nigerian would make in a month(30 days). Keep in mind that most states in the US have opted to pay more than $10 per hour minimum wage.
Throw in the fact that most Americans earn above minimum wage while about 80% of Nigerians live on/below minimum wage.
And just incase you think that's bad, "The absolute lowest federal minimum wage is in Sierra Leone, where workers can expect just $0.03/hour."Source
You can clearly see the wide gap in the economic setups of both continents.
Oddly enough, Nigeria has bountiful resources and is blessed with large oil deposits. But corrupt governments and even more corrupt religious leaders have led the population into adverse poverty effectively destroying the middle-class over the past 30 years.
Many nigerians now seek greener pasture in other countries. Some get so desperate they resort to crime (Internet fraud, drug trafficking, prostitution). There is a running albeit truthful joke here that prisons in Holland are better than houses in Nigeria.
Those who choose to stay either fall to vices or go to school with the hope that one day their education will form a foundation for them to create a career of worth or land a high paying job. Things look bright when you are in school, till you graduate and join the unemployment pool of over 40 million youths. It's a very harsh environment.
So why am I writing this article?
To highlight Steemit. To highlight the Steemjet program, @utopian-io and and steempay.co
STEEMIT
See Steemit offers everyone the opportunity to show what they are good at and get rewarded for quality content. While to some, this is a casual blog or just a place to pass time, to many africans, venezuelans and people from over impoverished countries Steemit offers a shining light as a source of sustenance. You won't become Bill Gates but you can make a decent pay from here if you are dedicated and get recognised.
STEEMJET PROJECT
The steemjet project was started and funded by an unknown benelovent whale @dimimp(suspected to be @dan in disguise) working with @deandaniel, @mbj and some other talented people. It has gone on to elevate many youths on steemit mostly from third world countries.
The vision of steemjet includes introducing as many people as possible to cryptocurrency, helping them understand and adopt crypto as an alternative means of security, and helping to empower and finance viable projects to uplift these people so they can live better lives.
UTOPIAN-IO
Utopian is for the more advanced/computer-savvy user. It focuses on the development of open-source software and rewarding valuable contributions to these softwares. Utopian has different categories which appeal to different sets of people depending on your technical background. These range from bug-testing to content writing to language translations to graphic designing.
Join their discord here to interact with friendly, enthusiastic and brilliant minds.
Visit them on steemit at @utopian-io or their website and contribute!
STEEMPAY.CO
STEEMPAYCO is the brand name of SteemPay Project(not to be confused with the SteemPay app!). This project is driven by Steemits own witness @asbear and designed by @dayoung
Steempayco is a web application designed to serve as an interface for easy transactions using SBD as a form of payment. The vision of steempayco is the mass adoption of SBD as an accepted means of exchange in developing countries. This will go a long way in helping out so many people who will be able to make "money" on steemit by producing quality content and being able to use their post rewards for every day expenses. Think of a writer paying for his coffee with his last post payout. With steempayco, your content becomes your asset.
Users can easily register their steem accounts as well as store information. Payment using steempayco is simply involves scanning the QR code of the cart receipt, and confirming the payment via steemconnect!
Its very simple to use, prevents cheating by using real time exchange price, and and saves you the stress of doing conversions to fiat.
Check them out on steemit at @steempayco or their website
All in all, the future looks bright for Africa, for the world and for cryptocurrency. Here's to the development of the blockchain!
If you like what they are doing, feel free to cast witness votes for them so that they can perform better.
@ulqu3 is a proud member of @thealliance, @onelovedtube and @reachout.
He is a jack of all trades, Master of some.
If you liked this article feel free to read some of my previous posts.
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