The Role of the Lumi Currency in Africa’s Successful Fourth Industrial Revolution of the 21st Century

The thoughts to create the Lumi Currency began when African leaders started the campaign for the need to unite all Africans both at home (that is those within Africa) and in the diaspora (those outside of Africa).

Not just reuniting with those who have gone abroad in search of greener pasture but those who have their roots in Africa, like the Jamaicans, Black Americans, and very many of them.

Introduction

The Leaders of the African Union began to question the reason why Africa has all the minerals but still depends on foreign aids to tackle its internal developmental deficits. It was as a result of this that the thought of bringing the Africans in the Diaspora and continent together in a common economic goal.

The aim here is to primarily create channels of trade and help all member countries including those in the Caribbean Americas to sustain their independence and look inward for resources that will help them develop without seeking loans outside.

After many years of deliberation, in 2018 the African Leaders met in Addis Ababa (the Ethiopian Capital) and granted a sixth region of Africa to those in the diaspora.

This new region is called The African Diaspora 6th Region or The Economic Community of the Sixth African Diaspora Region (ECO 6) with headquarters in the Maroons, an island in Jamaica.

A new government is now formed right? Definitely they will need their own money just like the European Union’s Euro (€) and the ECOWAS Francophone’s Franc, the ECO-6 also want to have a common or single currency to avoid remittance in Dollar.

According to Timothy McPherson who presently occupies the leadership position of the region as it’s interim president, the Lumi will act as medium of trade not only in the Diaspora but in the entire Continental Africa.

Before we proceed it will be essential for us to understand what the Lumi Currency is all about and the claims that it will cause the industrial revolution in Africa.

What is the Lumi Currency?

The Lumi Currency can be defined as the official currency of the ECO-6 (The Economic Community of the Sixth African Diaspora Region.

The currency is issued by the African Diaspora Central Bank (ADCB). The Lumi as a currency has both a physical Bank note and digital coin too.

Why is the currency called Lumi?

Before I clear the confusion regarding the choice of the word “Lumi” for the Diaspora Region’s currency.

Most countries pegg their currency against the Dollar while some pegg theirs’ against their most valuable minerals.

For example, the Kuwait Dinnar is pegged against their basket of currencies yet it remains the world’s nominal currency with highest value beating the globally accepted Dollar.

The creators of the Lumi Currency view things from a different angle, instead the said Lumi is underwritten totally by 100kwh of solar energy (Energy that comes from the sun).

So, because the sun illuminates, and Diaspora Region’s currency is underwritten by the sun hence they name “Lumi” originating from the word illuminate.

The African Diaspora Central Bank (ADCB) said, the currency (Lumi) is pegged against four grains of gold which is equivalent to 0.2592 grams.

This claim is verifiable on the official website of the ECO-6 which can be accessed at 👉👉 https://www.eco-6.com/copy-of-lumi-currency

What is the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR)?

Before I define this let’s go back to the basics, the 1st revolution dates back before the colonial time when African never witnessed civilization.

The 2nd revolution is the colonial period when Africans were taught former education and began to trade within their regions.

The 3rd revolution is the period after African countries gained independence and started electing their own leaders to govern them.

Now the Fourth revolution also called the RESET is focusing on industrialization in the Continental Africa and the African Diaspora Region.

This revolution will basically discourage African countries from taking loans in other countries especially developed nations but will encourage the wealth generated from their minerals to be used solely for the development of the continent and the diaspora region.

Africa’s digital economy challenges and opportunities

Inasmuch as Africa is still developing, the digital economy still seems to be a little bit farther away especially in rural communities.

In countries like Nigeria, most of the villages don’t even have a network provider mast. In some villages in Africa, up till now there is no network mast available in those villages.

Africa’s digital economy is receiving special attention throughout the continent but however, there are some challenges being faced in this subsector and these include:

• Limited infrastructure: i earlier said Africa is still far from the digital economy and this is because, infrastructural deficit in the subsector is much. In Benue State of Nigeria for example, the number of people without a mobile phone is almost 60% of the population of the entire state.

• Limited digital skills: how can the digital economy thrive when skills are lacking in the field? Skills such as website design and full-stalk developer are done by less than one percent.

Opportunities

Today many African nations are no longer ignorant of huge opportunities that digital economy presents to the 21st century.

That is why, in Nigeria the late former President Muhammadu Buhari created a federal ministry for Information and Digital Economy because he recognizes these opportunities and wanted to position Nigeria at the forefront of these potential opportunities.

Soon other African nations including the Diaspora Region may follow in the footsteps of Nigeria. Some of the opportunities that the digital economy has to offer are:

• Job Creation: This space has a lot of job opportunities especially for the youths, some of the jobs are even self reliance. They can start a niche for themselves.
• The growing and young population: the growing population of Africa presents a very large market in the subsector of the economy. People are eager to patronize emerging technologies such as fintech which are currently doing well in the continent.
• Improved service delivery: The digital economy has undeniably improved service delivery especially in ticketing, record keeping, banking and security.
• Improved security: the stringent security architecture today lies in the digital space such as Blockchain Technology, device tracking, and so on.

The LUMI’s role in digital inclusion and cross-border trade

Digital inclusion

One of the core aims of the Lumi Currency is the inclusivity of the entire population of Africa.

The African Diaspora Central Bank (ADCB) after the creation of the Lumi’s Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), the interim president of the Sixth African Diaspora Region Mr. Timothy McPherson launched a stimulus program to pay in Lumi a monthly grant to all vulnerable Africans for a period of three years beginning from October 2021 and ended in October of 2023.

So, the ECO-6 officials affirmative that the Lumi Currency is created to solve certain problems being faced by Africans such as a majority of the population of Africa not having access to financial tools.

According to the ECO-6 Secretariat, the Lumi Currency will be used as a single throughout the continent and the Caribbean Americas who members of the African Diaspora Sixth Region (ECO-6).

The ECO-6 Secretariat also stated that the currency will be used in settling the huge Africa’s debts and industrialization of the continental Africa and the Diaspora will be settled using Lumi as well.

Cross-border trade

When we export goods out of Africa we are being paid in Dollars by the importer of our goods in his country. Although in some cases the exporter is paid in the currency of the country he is supplying his goods to.

For instance, if you export my Benue yams to South Korea the company or person you are supplying those yams to will have to pay you in Dollars because accepting the South Korean currency will be hard for you to exchange to your local currency.

But if you export to Ghana or South Africa you will receive either Cedis or Rands but you will be able to exchange in Naira because there a lot of people here in Nigeria traveling to those countries and they need the local currency of those countries.

The Lumi Currency is created with the aims to settle remittances as well and to encourage trade within the Sixth Region. Countries within the African continent may trade using the Lumi Currency.

Smart payment interoperability – phones, watches, and PCs

One of the opportunities that digital economy has presented to the African continent and the diaspora is the payment interoperability.

To do away with the hassle of going to banks physically to make deposits and send or withdraw money has been one of our challenges and Lumi Currency is positioned to help reduce this very stress.

The currency has a digital form based on Blockchain, this will be traded everywhere including outside of the content using any device that can access the Internet such as smart watches, PCs and mobile phones.

No one needs to visit Banks physically again but simply use you devices to facilitate payments. During the Mohammedu Buhari administration, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) introduced the e-Naira which is also the digital form of Nigeria’s currency, the Naira.

This Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) was also rumored to accept swapping between the Lumi Currency and the e-Naira but at the expiration of the Buhari’s tenure, the CBN discontinued with the innovation.

Case studies: fintech startups adopting LUMI-based transactions

Have you heard of the Swifin platform? It is a fintech based in Uganda. Swifin is the first to facilitate lumi-based payments across Africa.

The stimulus program was paid using the Swifin platform where all beneficiaries had to sign up and receive their monthly payments.

At the moment McPherson is going round from country to country persuading institutions to accept payments in Lumi.

In 2023, a South African grocery store “Pick n Pay” accepted the Lumi Currency for purchases in it’s stores.

According to reports that went viral online suggested that some schools in Uganda and Ghana started accepting the Lumi Currency but there’s no official announcement on that yet.

The African Diaspora Central Bank (ADCB) Start-ups will start various start-ups especially in the technology space using its currency, the Lumi.

Although , at the moment only the Swifin, a payment gateway in Uganda has adopted the Lumi Currency for all it’s services.