While Miners in Africa Mine Bitcoin, Half of Ethiopia’s Population Lives Without Electricity

According to Luxor Technology, Ethiopia is gradually becoming the largest mining cente

According to calculations by the Cambridge Center for Alternative Finance, 121 terawatt-hours of electricity were used to mine Bitcoin in 2023. This is comparable to the annual energy consumption of the whole of Argentina.

I see growing interest from the largest mining companies in the African continent. Perhaps over time, China, the USA or Japan will regret that they missed the opportunity to make money from mining bitcoins.

Last spring, shipping containers with stacks of ASICs inside began mushrooming near power plants connected to the newly built giant Ethiopian dam.

It's a sure sign that miners, who have quickly adapted since their operations were banned in China two years ago, have begun flocking to Ethiopia with entire farms in search of cheap electricity.

However, such moves do not guarantee that in a month or a year the miners will not be forced to leave again as it has already happened in other countries, Africa may also run out of “cheap” electricity needed for cryptocurrency mining, so moving is a temporary solution.

“Mining in Africa has two potential risks,” says Jaran Mellerud, the head of Hashlabs Mining. First, countries may simply not have enough electricity for scaling of miners. Secondly, governments of countries can at any time consider the activities of miners undesirable and force them to immediately curtail their business and leave the country.

Looking at this, I believe that no country should abandon cryptocurrencies under the pretext of lacking a free capacity. This only opens the way for competitors.

Instead, it should invest in developing its own mining infrastructure and encourage private companies to expand production. This is the only way to maintain technological leadership and to get maximum benefits.

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