PANews reported on December 27 that according to The Africa Report, as China bans cryptocurrencies, crypto miners are looking for new locations with cheap energy and friendly regulation, and Africa is becoming a global focus. Ethiopia's newly commissioned "Grand Renaissance Dam" has brought huge energy capacity to the country, and its electricity sales to the crypto mining sector have also been unexpectedly successful. The Ethiopian Electric Power Company (EEP) said that currently 18% of monthly sales come from Bitcoin mining, a proportion that was almost zero last year. The financial support of miners has helped ease the pressure on funds for grid construction, and more than $1 billion in investment has poured in.
In addition, other African countries are also using crypto mining to advance energy infrastructure. For example, Gridless supports the construction of microgrids in Kenya, Malawi, and Zambia through Bitcoin mining; Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo uses hydropower to support Bitcoin mining and uses its proceeds for environmental protection projects. However, some countries have expressed concerns about energy security, and Angola passed a law in February 2024 to ban cryptocurrency mining to protect the country's energy supply.
