Africa’s on-chain finance accelerates: Tether joins hands with Shiga Digital to expand USDT usage scenarios

According to Tether's official blog, Tether, the world's largest issuer of US dollar stablecoins, has completed a strategic investment in Shiga Digital, an African blockchain financial platform, aiming to expand the application scenarios of USDT in the African market. Although the specific investment amount has not been disclosed, the content of the cooperation shows that the two parties will carry out in-depth cooperation around cross-border payments, foreign exchange management and localized financial services on the chain.

Shiga Digital is a financial technology company focusing on the digital transformation of traditional industries in Africa. It currently provides virtual accounts, over-the-counter (OTC) and customized settlement solutions. Its main customers include resource-intensive industries such as oil, gas, and agriculture, as well as emerging groups such as freelancers and cross-border e-commerce.

The core of this cooperation is a set of on-chain gateway systems that Shiga is developing, which will allow users to directly use USDT for daily transactions and commercial payments without first converting it to local currency. This mechanism is expected to provide a more stable and transparent payment channel in African countries with volatile exchange rates or unstable foreign exchange policies.

Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether, said: "Africa is one of the regions with the lowest financial service coverage in the world but the greatest potential for innovation. Through cooperation with Shiga Digital, we hope to make blockchain a core component of its financial infrastructure and promote a more inclusive and efficient digital economy."

Against the current background of high international settlement and cross-border payment costs, stablecoins as neutral value carriers are increasingly favored by emerging markets. For USDT, a stablecoin based on the US dollar, African companies and freelancers can complete cross-border receipt and payment through it, which can not only save a lot of intermediate costs, but also avoid the financial risks brought by the depreciation of local currencies.

Analysts believe that this cooperation also marks the further extension of Tether's global layout, from the stablecoin usage scenarios that were previously concentrated in Asia and Latin America to the African market that is extremely dependent on financial instruments but undersupplied with traditional banking services.

With the gradual implementation of Shiga Digital's on-chain gateway system, African users may truly experience seamless and low-threshold crypto financial services in the near future.