Africa is made up of 54 countries which trade in 56 different currencies. African countries are endemic with inflation and a disconnect between economic performance and currency value. The disconnect is deepened due to the inability to trade directly across borders. There is no common trade currency but the US dollar and this creates major friction in the way of fees and time delays.
The aim for Item Banc is to in some small way allow the traction of goods forming basic needs between countries to secure valuation and allow the most disadvantaged to transact efficiently across boarders.
Rwanda sits in the middle of central Africa, is stable and has advanced banking and financial structures. Rwanda boasts strong legislation and governance and low incidence of corruption. From an African perspective this makes Rwanda an attractive test bed for Item Banc to initiate its roll out. In addition, the Smart Africa head office in Rwanda has the ability to deal across multiple regimes. The completion of a rail link to the coast will make Rwanda a logical land based port for goods to be stored and distributed.
Internationally Rwanda is seen as the leader in innovation in Africa and as such has and continues to receive strong support and attention from the international community on initiatives that it is launching. Item Banc represents a bold step in the process of creating a trackable, stable, corruption free trading platform to facilitate the transfer of basic goods and value between neighbours and countries on the continent and Rwanda has the positioning to execute.
Once Rwanda has proven the technology it can begin in other Nations and continents.