African crypto revolution continues as Ethiopia ranks among global BTC mining leaders
In 2024, Ethiopia generated $1 billion through Bitcoin mining. The profits made by mining help maintain the GERD infrastructure. The mining operation accounted for 18% of the country’s annual national income.
2024 was a pivotal year for Ethiopia as it generated around $1 billion in BTC mining profits due to its access to cheap, reliable, and renewable energy sources.
Africa is a region producing fintech unicorns that provide the highly unbanked (and equally highly “smartphonized”) population and merchants with payment solutions. Companies like TymeBank, Moniepoint, and Opay have made hundreds of millions of dollars by creating and maintaining payment mobile apps and ground touchpoints. In conditions where banks are absent—80% of Africans don’t have bank cards—digital money solutions are filling the void, and cryptocurrency is one of the factors shaping the modern-day financial reality of the continent.
Ethiopia entered the global BTC mining top
According to Intellinews, in 2023, only 35% of Ethiopians had bank accounts. However, this did not block the country from becoming one of the world’s leaders in Bitcoin mining. In 2024, Ethiopia became the first African country with a high-scale state-backed crypto mining operation. Its revenue is expected to reach up to $5.4 billion in 2027.
The backbone of Ethiopia’s success in the sector is the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, a gravity dam constructed on the Blue Nile River by 2024. The GERD is one of the 20 largest hydroelectric power plants in the world and the biggest one in Africa. It provides electricity to the entire country and produces enough for export to other nations.
Bitcoin critics have often emphasized the excessive energy consumption of the network, noting that many mining operations are based in countries with cheap electricity that rely on dirty fossil fuels. Ethiopia, however, mines bitcoins using cheap and clean energy from the GERD. Interestingly, only half of the Ethiopian population has access to electricity. This means a significant portion of the spare energy can be invested in mining.
In 2024, Ethiopia generated $1 billion through Bitcoin mining. The profits made by mining help maintain the GERD infrastructure. The mining operation accounted for 18% of the country’s annual national income.
