Olaniran
Web application developer, I write and share my understanding of how systems work.
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Bitcoin technology represents an innovation that more and more African communities are relying on to build and consolidate their sovereignty, and to improve the quality of their trade by removing economic and regional barriers.
The adventure of Tando, the Kenyan super-app begins in 2023 at the Africa Bitcoin Conference under the impetus of Femi Longe's presentation: Africans need to create Bitcoin solutions for Africans. In 2024, Tando is deployed in Kenya and continues to facilitate the daily use of Bitcoin through Lightning Network.
Getting started with Tando
Tando is a mobile application available on the Android and iOS platforms, enabling you to use Bitcoin anywhere in Kenya. In this tutorial we will focus on the Android platform. However, the processes detailed below are also valid for the iOS platform.
Tando is a medium of exchange based on two technologies:
- Lightning Network: the Bitcoin layer for instant, virtually free payments.
- M-Pesa: Kenya's most popular mobile money.
It requires no personal information from its users, and does not require identity verification. With Tando, you can protect your privacy while making transactions.
In Kenya, most merchants, supermarkets, service providers and financial transactions can be carried out using M-Pesa. By bridging the gap between Lightning Network and M-Pesa, Tando allows you to use bitcoins wherever M-Pesa is accepted and the recipient receives Kenyan shillings (KES).
With Tando, you can use Bitcoin to :
- Pay for goods and services
- Send money
- Pay your bills
With its intuitive, minimalist Interface, Tando lets you use any Lightning wallet to make payments in Kenyan shillings (KES). This represents an opportunity for foreigners to come to Kenya without cash and live normally using their Lightning wallet. Tando also provides Bitcoin with a relevant framework for use, encouraging its adoption in Kenyan communities.
Using Tando
Tando lets you use your bitcoins to buy anything M-Pesa can buy in Kenya. What's more, transaction fees are virtually nil compared to native M-Pesa transactions. When you use Tando, you pay the KES equivalent with your Lightning wallet and, using their infrastructure, Tando will convert your Lightning payment into Kenyan shillings (KES) and then send the sum to the M-Pesa number you specify.
- Scan to Pay:
Scan to pay is one of the application's automatic payment options. Scan the M-Pesa code available from your merchant, then enter the amount to be paid and proceed to pay the Lightning invoice that will be generated for you.
- Sending money to Kenya:
Tando's money remittance option lets you send money to Kenya from anywhere in the world. You can therefore make cross-border and intercontinental transactions, without exorbitant fees, to Kenya using your Lightning wallet.
Select the Send Money option, then enter the recipient's number. Enter the amount to be sent (between 15 and 50,000 KES), then create the Lightning invoice associated with this payment.
Pay the bill from your Lightning wallet and Tando will convert it into Kenyan shillings (KES) and send it to the specified recipient.
- Pay your bills:
Enter the number of the invoice you wish to pay, then proceed to pay the associated Lightning invoice.
- Buying goods:
Shop directly using Tando. Enter your merchant's merchant number and the amount in Kenyan shillings (KES) of your total purchases, then generate the Lightning invoice for your payment.
In the application's menu, you'll also find all the information you need about Tando, so you can better understand their vision and pricing.
More and more initiatives like Tando are springing up in African communities, discover BitSpenda, a Ghanaian initiative that aims to use Bitcoin to make payments in Ghana, Nigeria and Kenya.
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