Crypto startup expands electricity top-up service in Africa

UK-based cryptocurrency startup, Electroneum has expanded its electricity top-up service to four more African countries. The service will now be available in Sierra Leone, Togo, Benin, and Ivory Coast. 

The service is accessible through its mobile app that allows registered users to top up on electricity or send electricity to friends or families.

The Electroneum app is the first startup that offers an in-app electricity service with crypto to nine African countries

The cryptocurrency app utilises an instant payment system that enables registered users to send, receive, or transfer funds quickly and more effectively.

In an official press release, Richard Ells, CEO of Electroneum explains the convenience of the in-app electricity top-up service.

“Electricity and mobile phone top-ups are a great way for people living and working away from their home countries to help friends and families by sending them airtime and data or by refilling their electricity meters.”

Electricity and mobile airtime are globally identified as daily essentials. The services offered through the Electroneum app allow people, worldwide, to send airtime and electricity refills as well as save on time and the cost of transportation. 

The Electroneum app

According to the cryptocurrency startup, it has nearly 4.1-million registered users on the Electroneum app that are able to send, receive and transfer data, mobile airtime, and electricity.

In addition to the four African countries that the in-app electricity service expanded to, Nigeria, Mali, Gambia, Senegal, and Guinea-Bissau currently have access to this service.

The main objective of the Electroneum app is to solve real-world problems that its users experience worldwide.

Electroneum is one of the only crypto apps that enables users to purchase airtime and data in more than 140 countries. This is in addition to the electricity top-up service it hosts in nine African countries. 

Registered users have reportedly completed more than 300 000 app-to-app transfers as well as over 200 000 airtime and data top-ups. This led to Electroneum being ranked as one of the most widely used crypto apps. 

The app allows registered users to save on time and money when sending, receiving, or transferring funds. The remittance charge for transferring money reportedly costs between 5 – 10% of the amount being sent. 

Ells explains that the Electroneum app aims to further expand its service range in the future.

“Topping up airtime and electricity with the Electroneum app costs a fraction of a US cent. In countries where the minimum wage is $2 to $3 a day or sometimes even less, to pay up to $5 for a $50 transfer makes a huge difference. Top-ups are particularly useful for freelancers earning ETN on AnyTask. We will soon enable people in Africa to purchase food items and construction materials with the Electroneum app and have them delivered to their families back home.” 

AnyTask refers to Electroneum’s freelance platform, which includes a multitude of registered users as well as tasks across various categories. Electroneum and AnyTask allow users to instantly gain access to the digital economy as users do not require a bank or PayPal account. 

Ells explains that developing countries use airtime and data as a medium of exchange.

“This means immigrant workers can send their families airtime instead of a transfer through Western Union, for example, and the recipients can then trade that airtime for funds they then can use to purchase food and other everyday essentials. And they can also top-up electricity meters remotely.”

Electroneum is the first cryptocurrency startup to offer electricity top-ups through its app. 

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