So not truly offline, rather low bandwidth and indirect transmissions, and unencrypted, and Lightning, and custodial wallets. Sounds like worse in every way than just a centralized mobile based solution.
The reason Bitcoin and Lightning Network payments are spreading like wildfire within the content of Africa is a direct result of decades of abusive relationships and abject failure of the traditional banking system.
>This is not even 3.000 users according to the article
"Machankura is already being used by roughly 2,900 African users across more than seven countries"
You cant gauge popularity or total adoption of Bitcoin across the continent by using early metrics of one recently released wallet application that targets a small subset of Bitcoin users.
"3 of the top 20 countries in the Crypto Adoption Index are African. Kenya is #1" [0]
"users in lower middle and upper middle income countries often rely on cryptocurrency to send remittances, preserve their savings in times of fiat currency volatility, and fulfill other financial needs unique to their economies. These countries also tend to lean on Bitcoin and stablecoins more than other countries." [0]
The infographic says it's based on a survey of 1000-4000 respondents. The actual survey seems to behind a paywall so I can't examine the methodology more closely. But considering smartphone penetration in Nigeria is only about 32%, the notion simply does not pass the sniff test.
So... they're using Bitcoin with GSM access, since USSD is just a service-type on top of traditional GSM... which also requires the operators support those USSD messages?
