Quote from: counter on May 08, 2013, 09:55:04 AM

Africa like most of the world is in dire need of good political leadership. All the best with your project.

Thank you! So is the United States- I would say that we are lucky to have crypto to operate somewhat outsides the constraints of unjustified taxation.

Quote from: greyhawk on May 08, 2013, 10:01:29 AM

Physical goods is the least of Africas problems. Your clean water will literally drown in the sand until the leadership problem is solved.

"Ngango Cho'kto, 4 years, would like to eat. Won't you help? Your dollar can feed him for a year." Sounds oh so easy and compelling. Couldn't be further from the truth though. If it's just to clear your conscience, go right ahead. But don't misguide yourself into thinking that will solve anything or help anyone.

Quote from: gopher on May 08, 2013, 10:39:13 AM

Quote from: greyhawk on May 08, 2013, 10:01:29 AM

Physical goods is the least of Africas problems. Your clean water will literally drown in the sand until the leadership problem is solved.

"Ngango Cho'kto, 4 years, would like to eat. Won't you help? Your dollar can feed him for a year." Sounds oh so easy and compelling. Couldn't be further from the truth though. If it's just to clear your conscience, go right ahead. But don't misguide yourself into thinking that will solve anything or help anyone.

^^^ This!

OP, if you have NGO experience, you should know that raising the funding is never a major problem, getting someone to develop the software and configure the hardware needed is also relatively easy, but getting the funds distributed to their intended target is an impossible task in Africa.

Years ago, when the CPU mining was still feasible, I designed this cute Solar Miner. 125Wp panel + 3A MPPT + 1kWh lithium battery + 15W TDP Mobo + GPRS dongle = +/- $350, earning some $100-$150 per month in Bitcoins. I also had a solution for the Bitcoin to Cash conversion, easy and low-cost, the African way.

But what I could not solve is the comfort the NGOs needed in order to get involved with this. At the end, I had to abandon the idea, as I find it was not feasible, not in Africa.

After reading this OP I went and re-run the figures to see if my contraption will be feasible mining Litecoin today. And it sure was! Also, for little bit more, one could configure it to use BFL's 5GHs Miner instead of the Mobo, making this even more profitable that it was intended to be in the first place.

But I am still convinced that although technically one can create a mining solution for Africa, one should not do because is never worth it - at the end this will see everyone involved wasting their time and money while the local leaders enriching themselves again and Ngango Cho'kto, the proverbial 4 year old, will get nothing out of this, will probably die of hunger and some exotic diseases!

Quote from: crazy_rabbit on May 08, 2013, 12:07:14 PM

Uh, 'Africans' is a pretty vague term and the socio-economic standing varies from the poorest in the world to some really well do to folks. You should probably aim for a country rather then a Continent.

That said, Africa isn't in need of purchasing physical goods with crypto-currency, they are in need of fair market prices for raw materials of which they have incredible amounts of. It's a lovely idea, but misguided. As much of 'Free Aid" has always been.

I will address the problems of dependency on aid and feasibility/specificity which most people are addressing.

Firstly I would say this project could be whatever we want it to be. Weex on the Litecoin channel is always interested in making a crypto exchange for local African currencies. Visit his (new) forum at bitcoins.co.ke

I do agree we should pick a country with enough infrastructure and stability for us to be successful.

I don't believe in giving free money to people for no reason, either. I do think you are overblowing the notion that everybody in Africa lives with a gun pointed at their head by the local army. Just as you accused me of being naive in saying we should send water bottles to Africa to help people out with little access to clean and cheap water, you then became naive in thinking that Africa is a war-torn hellhole where all money disappears.

I'm up for whatever ideas you have. Keep in mind that funding this project is through people running their CPU miners. They likely don't have a clue what their computer is doing, but are more interested in helping people through very little exertion on their own. It is sort of like freerice.com but even easier.

Gopher I will PM you about your rig because I am always interested and working on solar rigs and portable miners/FPGAs. I'm working on all 3 aspects as we speak.

Thanks and I will update the main post to reflect this discussion!