Canza Finance's Baki Aims to Provide Decentralized FX Exchange for African Currencies

According to Cointelegraph, many in Africa struggle to access forex liquidity and currency swaps, limiting the use of dollar-based services in the continent's import-dependent economy. Canza Finance CEO Pascal Ntsama IV believes that decentralized finance (DeFi) could fill this gap by leveraging cryptocurrencies, blockchain networks, and services (DApps). The neo-bank's new DeFi technology, Baki, aims to provide a decentralized FX exchange for African currencies, enabling slippage-free swaps at central bank rates. Ntsama explained that using Baki for FX trades in Africa creates a hub for businesses to participate in intra-African trades and FX trades at a reduced cost, fostering a favorable business environment for intra-African trades. Baki allows traders to swap currencies without loss, trading at official central bank prices. DeFi in Africa is projected to show an annual growth rate of 21.99% and reach over half a million users by 2027. However, industry experts have called for revisions to these projections as grassroots penetration of blockchain products continues to record new highs. In response to whether Baki's services would be acceptable in countries like Nigeria, where blockchain technology hasn't been fully implemented even after policy approval, Ntsama said Baki is built to work with the current regulatory climate as it leverages existing user behaviors to tackle problems that exist with blockchain technology. He maintained that a positive shift in regulation would bring more industrial and institutional adoption for Baki. Ntsama also noted that users and entities providing liquidity for Baki earn yield from the 80bps fee charged on every currency swap in the system. This yield is split with 50% to the Liquidity Providers, 25% to Canza Finance native tokenholders, and 25% to Canza Finance as an entity.