Making money, escaping poverty: Bitcoin and Lightning in Mozambique

cointelegraph.com:

Bitcoin (BTC) is for all. For you, for Michael Saylor in Miami, and for 38-year-old Jorge, a Mozambican family man who's using the largest cryptocurrency to make ends meet.

Jorge, who goes by his first name for anonymity, lives in the tiny village of Bomba, Mozambique, on its southeast coast. Since the Covid-19 pandemic stripped away tourism from the sleepy surf town, one of Jorge’s primary wage earners–tourism–disappeared. 

Luckily, Bitcoin adoption is slowly swelling in Africa–from the Central African Republic across to Senegal and further north. Mozambique is also showing signs it's warming to the world's most popular crypto.

Mozambique is a vast, southern African country that struggles with poverty and corruption. At a GDP per capita of $448, it’s among the world’s poorest countries. According to the World Bank, the pandemic pushed GDP per capita under the $500 mark in 2020. 

Fortunately for Jorge, one of the surf camp owners Jorge used to work alongside is a passionate Bitcoiner who took him under his wing in 2021. 

Herman Vivier, the founder of the South African Bitcoin-beach-inspired project Bitcoin Ekasi and crypto-friendly surf touring company Unravel Surf Travel, has been helping Jorge protect his savings and diversify his income using BTC.

Jorge wears many hats to earn a living, from surf assistant to arts and crafts seller to SIM card salesman. He told Cointelegraph that he now “accepts Bitcoin” for the services he provides.

Plus, he uses the Lightning Network to instantly swap between South African and Mozambican currencies via the Bitrefill Bitcoin application.

Jorge explains that while “very few people understand Bitcoin here,” he buys and sells phone credit on Bitefill (an app that sells gift cards payable with