Erik Hersman
@whiteafrican
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I build stuff in Africa. Co-founder of @GridlessCompute (founder @iHub , @Ushahidi , @brcknet )
Nairobi, Kenya
Joined September 2007
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Kenya is playing a dangerous game with these taxes.
16% on bread
20% on airtime and internet
20% to move your money (mobile or bank)
20% on gross turnover for Amazon, Google, Netflix, etc (called an “Economic Significance Presence Tax”)
2.5% annual value of vehicle tax
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Announced today:
$4.4 billion over four years from the IMF (584.1 billion shillings)
$322.7 million of US government funds to Kenya (42.8 billion shillings)
I was having a hard time following, so I started pulling out all the quantifiable numbers to add it all up.
See
The U.S. and Kenya are making big announcements today during
#StateVisitUSKE
. Read the details here:
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Tragedy in Old Kijabe town with heavy rains. Many people missing (maybe up to 100).
Blocked tunnel under the old railway lines created a lake. It broke after days of build up. See videos.
Whole community is out to help and search.
@KijabeForest
is supporting.
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I keep seeing Kenyan media (and even the First Lady) saying this was a burst dam.
It was not. There has never been a dam here.
I’m now starting to wonder why this misinformation is happening.
Tragedy in Old Kijabe town with heavy rains. Many people missing (maybe up to 100).
Blocked tunnel under the old railway lines created a lake. It broke after days of build up. See videos.
Whole community is out to help and search.
@KijabeForest
is supporting.
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The issues in Kijabe Forest with potential flooding continues.
Though smaller than yesterday, a body of water is backed up against the railway tracks, the tunnel clogged.
A dangerous situation for the those downhill in Old Kijabe town and Mai Mahiu.
Officials notified.
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IMF meddling continues.
Decreasing the ability for an emerging country to use energy.
Penalizing it’s people for issues that they have had almost no impact on.
IMF is pushing for further fuel tax increases and/or introduction of carbon tax in Kenya in order to meet climate change goals.
Says recent fuel taxes increases will help meet goals but that is not enough.
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This is the inadvertent water catchment from above, you can see the railway line.
A couple days prior to last night’s flood of Old Kijabe.
It’s difficult to understand the size and scale from this image, but this is a huge volume and weight of water about to be unleashed.
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There is no Kijabe Dam.
Never has been one.
Media are repeating something, but it’s not the facts.
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Super impressive. Thanks to the donation of the cable and the fast build out of this cable system to get food and supplies to the approximately 3,000 people locked into Old Kijabe area.
We did it … the cable pulley system is up… old kijabe community have a crossing that will withstand further storms and mudslides! 🤗
📸
@ggkenya
#kijabeforest
#naturelovers
@eden_reforest
@whiteafrican
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The
@KijabeForest
Trust is using some of the funds donated to hire equipment to re-open the road into Old Kijabe town from Mai Mahiu.
The scale of infrastructure damage is immense. This work alone will take weeks.
A massive thank you to everyone who has donated.
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A random picture found on Google to show the size of this tunnel.
It was blown away by the pressure build up of the lake that grew. Here’s an aftermath picture of the canyon left there now.
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A lot of bad in Kijabe Forest area, massive mudslides and increasing danger to communities. Roads are blocked by debris.
#1
was the main flood on Apr 29th with further mudslide today.
Last evening 2,3, and 5 slid. New pool at 4.
Last image is of RR station under mud.
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SitRep at end of day:
Old Kijabe town is completely cut off. That is close to 3,000 people in that area.
Mud slides all over.
If you have a cable car, or have a way to engineer getting supplies to the population, please get in touch with
@KijabeForest
Trust.
A lot of bad in Kijabe Forest area, massive mudslides and increasing danger to communities. Roads are blocked by debris.
#1
was the main flood on Apr 29th with further mudslide today.
Last evening 2,3, and 5 slid. New pool at 4.
Last image is of RR station under mud.
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My wife’s annual cooking price inflation list in Kenya for 2024:
2kg flour was 197, now 165
(⬇️-16%)
2kg rice was 657, now 701
(⬆️7%)
2kg of Kimbo was 738, now 840
(⬆️14%)
5kg sugar was 1150, now 789
(⬇️-31%)
2L milk was 198, now 322
(⬆️63%)
3L cooking oil was
Inflation in Kenya. My wife’s 1 year price list:
2kg flour was 138, now 197
(⬆️42%)
2kg rice was 495, now 670
(⬆️35%)
2kg of Kimbo was 458, now 819
(⬆️78%)
5kg sugar was 549, now 689
(⬆️25%)
5L milk was 405, now 500
(⬆️23%)
3L cooking oil was 632, now 1,052
(⬆️66%)
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The area remains very unstable. Kijabe mission received 62.5mm of rain last night and the railway embankments continue to fill with water.
Additional mudslides are only a matter of time.
Our team has been on site pumping yesterday but ground is very unstable and a further
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Neat. I didn’t realize anyone was making USB cables in Kenya.
How Its Made.
#MadeinKenya
@TotosciHoldings
USB Cables.
@MihrThakar
@benliquidkenya
@EbenUpton
#BuykenyaBuildKenya
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I’m excited to announce that this is happening. “Kenyan Public WiFi Sensation
@brcknet
Launches In South Africa” which I announced at
#AfricaCom
today.
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There is a good visualization of the flood that hit Old Kijabe Town and Mai Mahiu at 3am on April 29th by UNITAR.
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Very sad to hear that Paul Muchene died last week on Kilimanjaro. One of the great techies in Nairobi and an even better person.
Besides being super smart, I swear he had the biggest smile in the world, and that’s how I always think of him.
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Less rain today, coupled with donations of pumps, and the work of the
@KijabeForest
rangers means that the water level has dropped a meter from yesterday at site
#3
as pumping began in earnest.
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The Economist wrote a pretty good article on Bitcoin mining in Africa...
It’s a real boon for rural electrification and for larger grid stabilization.
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The view from Old Kijabe town down into the Rift Valley by Mai Mahiu.
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From ancient Babylon to Athens, leadership has leaned the same lessons as Kenyan politicians are learning today.
Read the first half of chapter 19 of
@LynAldenContact
’s book “Broken Money” where it breaks down tension between rich/poor, taxation, and accessibility by the
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A lot of people don’t fully understand how important Bitcoin can be in the effort to electrify Africa.
Here’s a piece by
@ianbirrell
on that subject
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So tough to see the names and faces of these men at
@Cellulant
who died in the pointless violence that swamped us this week.
To
@KenNjorogeCG
you’ve built a great company with fine people and we are all pushing for you to keep succeeding. Poleni.
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$60M for a more connected, mobile, and green Nairobi
$40M for digital democracy and online safety for women and girls
$24.5M for the Kenya Primary Literacy Program
$20.7M for Strengthening U.S.-Kenya Research Ties with Kenya’s Health Workforce
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The way Kenyans get treated by
@USEmbassyKenya
visa officers is embarrassing.
@USAmbKenya
I know they see a lot of people but their lack of explanation and empathy are awful.
It makes me wonder if they enjoy seeing the light of hope go out of someone’s eyes.
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Love things like this. Just met
@BitcoinSophist
who wrote this African kids book about Bitcoin.
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Happening now:
The
@KijabeForest
Trust rangers patrolling and monitoring the water pools report that the Kenya Railways staff continue to drain the water.
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Back in Norway for the
#OsloFreedomForum
by
@HRF
- always an excellent gathering of people doing hard things globally to make their part of the world better.
This time with a number of African Bitcoiners (and a satirist).
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Got the
@SeedSigner
kit in Nairobi. Going to see if we can do full fabrication locally.
It’s an air-gapped DIY Bitcoin signing device.
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It was good to (finally) meet
@rkirubi
in-person! We went to our manufacturing site and talked a lot about Bitcoin.
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Love what
@440UrPp
is doing with bitcoin transfers over USSD (like Mpesa) on
@Machankura8333
His next move has been making it custodial by utilizing Javacard on the SIM card.
Any old feature phone can then transfer and hold its own Bitcoin.
All to be open sourced
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Community
#Bitcoin
event in Nairobi starts with building some open hardware
@SeedSigner
devices.
Thanks to Simon, and
@akliyobarre
for the 3D printing.
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It’s been an overloaded 7 days with travel, closings, events, and field trips. Truly appreciate new partners, old friends, and seeing new things come together.
Thank you everyone.
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Great to host
@jack
at the
@iHub
today. Community questions and great answers from the
@blocks
exec team here:
@TempletonThomas
@brockm
@milessuter
and
@moneyball
@jack
is in the house. Listening keenly. Thank you
@whiteafrican
for the good thought. Now back to business. 😁
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Thanks
@PeterMcCormack
- this conversation made more real as we talk it over in rural Africa as the sun sets behind us.
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In no region is Bitcoin more dominant than Sub-Saharan Africa, as the world’s first cryptocurrency makes up a bigger share of transaction volume there than in any other region.
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Something, something about proof of work. :)
Another
#lewa
half marathon done, even I f slower than usual.
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Impressive new service being built and I just saw a live test between an agent in Kenya and an agent on stage in Ghana.
Splice uses any of Africa’s 17.4 million agents to transfer money using Bitcoin’s Lightning network.
See the demo:
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It takes someone in Africa 4 days of work to earn 1Gb of internet. In the US and Europe, it takes just 2 hours to do the same.
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$18.7M to build the Kenyan criminal justice system’s ability to address terrorism
$15M for activities designed to reduce poverty and malnutrition
$7M for Kenya’s National Police Service
$6.5M for employment pathways in ICT and manufacturing of pharmaceuticals and textiles
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Honored to be at the
@ihub
/
@Cc_HUB
#Nyota
awards alongside
@afromusing
,
@dkobia
and
@wanjiku
(and 27 others). Thanks
@bosuntijani
!
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The
@SandstormKenya
bags are some of the best quality you can find - and generally expensive because of that quality. They last forever.
I love this project they’re running to make their own school bag for Kenyan students a bit less expensive at 3900 KES.
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I can’t believe it took this many years to finally meet
@asemota
in person. Legend that he is.
Also with
@femifemini
@ojomaochai
@bernard_parah
@ihate1999
@CharFadirepo
@takinbrrrr
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**Note: there is A LOT of loose language around the following, so hard to quantify**
A lot of vague language around training, convening, workshops, sessions, launching platforms, upskilling workers, and partnership programs that don’t have any quantifiable number attached
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“
@MyPaga
is the only company to build a physical infrastructure for payments in Nigeria with 13k agents.”
#TCbattlefield
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Excellent
@NatGeo
piece on how “Africa’s tech generation is changing the continent”, covering
@brcknet
to
@zipline
,
@iHub
to
@FundiBots
-
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An update from
@KijabeForest
- food and supplies continue to be delivered via boda motorcycle and the cable basket into Old Kijabe town.
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How it started. How it’s going.
We started
@KijabeForest
Trust in 2012 to help save the forest along the escarpment between Nairobi and Naivasha.
It’s working.
A big thanks to everyone who has supported this initiative!
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Mackenzie is great. Happy to host her a while back.
CNBC’s
@KenzieSigalos
reports from just outside Nairobi, Kenya, on Gridless, a company that’s using clean energy sources to power bitcoin mines that don’t need to rely on the local power grid.
Watch the full video here:
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If we want to reduce innovation, reduce jobs and reduce opportunities in Kenya, then this ICT bill is the way to go.
#KillTheICTBill
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Excited to announce that we’ve acquired the Surf assets in Kenya, making BRCK’s
@MojaNetwork
the largest public WiFi in East Africa!
#ATSKGL
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$3.6 million to support the accelerated electrical connection of more homes, businesses, and institutions in Kenya to cleaner electricity
$3.4M to improve civil society engagement
$3.3M for a program for 60 Kenyan undergraduate students to study for a semester in the United
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@gladstein
If it makes you feel any better word has reached me that your IMF/World Bank essay has been shared across FCDO (UK) as “Uncomfortable reading, but needs to be done” as they’re thinking through how to decolonize aid.
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Having only read the essay, it’s good to hear
@gladstein
talking about his book on the IMF and the World Bank called “Hidden Repression” with
@BITVOLT7
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The “African Born 3D printer” made in Nairobi from local old printers, RepRap, and 3D printed parts. Retails for $450, sells 4-5 per month
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“If you use Bitcoin Twitter as a barometer of what Bitcoin is for, you see a skewing towards digital gold, not a peer to peer monetary exchange”
@femilonge
at
@AdoptingBTCcpt
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Military support in vehicles:
16 U.S.-manufactured helicopters and 150 M1117 Armored Security Vehicles
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Bitcoin hits an all-time high against the Kenya shilling.
Kind of what happens when your currency devalues quickly and a harder currency does the opposite.
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“Nigeria Has Become Africa's Money-Losing Machine” interesting article, but I don’t think it reflects accurately the tech startup potential in Nigeria.
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The NFL (American Football) is scouting in Kenya for pure size and athleticism. Check out
@TheUprise72
Kakamega, Bungoma, and Eldoret this weekend.
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In 2016 South Africa had the most funded start-ups, followed by Kenya, Nigeria, Egypt, Ghana, and Rwanda.
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The red is “barren soil”.
Before = April 7, 2024
After = May 12, 2024
Forests need to be protected from encroachment by farming or livestock.
The decreased water holding capacity leads to mud slides as seen in
@KijabeForest
and the destruction and deaths done to the
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Good to see old friends
@magettew
and
@gladstein
up on stage talking about Bitcoin as money, alongside
@milessuter
frim CashApp and
@AnitaPosch
#abc2022
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$1.5M for the electoral legal framework reform process
$1.3M for a youth empowerment program
$1.3M to support Semiconductor Technologies Limited’s expansion
$1.3M for a feasibility study for a cross-continent fiber optic backbone from Kenya to the DRC
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AMN has started rolling out ultra-low cost small 10m towers to work in rural villages in Zambia, Cameroon and a couple other countries. Communities value them so much that they build their own fences and security.
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“Africa Will Build The Future Says Zuckerberg, Visits Kenya On First African Trip”
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To buy just 1GB of data in Africa costs an average citizen nearly 18% of their monthly income.
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Rebecca
@Wanjiku
is one of the best entrepreneurs in the Kenyan tech space. Maybe more importantly she’s built a women-to-women mentorship program in technology infrastructure:
Video 1:
Video 2:
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Love this Morara guy. Showing what can be done with citizen-based transparency.
4.4 billion KSH road. Launched 2x…!?
The ending is where you actually get to see the road too. Woi woi woi!
@WilliamsRuto
Launched this road twice. In 2018 and in 2023. To this date nothing. Residentscontinue to suffer. Keep launching Mr. Launchist
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Heading into London then Bedford. Looking forward to some good conversations and
@realbedford
football match as well!
Just 11 days until
@CheatCodeCon
and we are pleased to announce that Erik Hersman aka
@whiteafrican
will be joining us in Bedford.
CheatCode takes place on April 12th and 13th in Bedford, UK.
Tickets:
#CheatCode
#Bitcoin
#Football
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@MamaRachelRuto
There has never been a dam here.
This was caused by the water tunnel under the railway being clogged and causing the water to backup and create a lake. It then exploded as 3am.
Tragedy in Old Kijabe town with heavy rains. Many people missing (maybe up to 100).
Blocked tunnel under the old railway lines created a lake. It broke after days of build up. See videos.
Whole community is out to help and search.
@KijabeForest
is supporting.
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A very Kenyan type of bitcoin community. The thread is worth a read to understand why.
Love that it’s rural too. Many of our communities are based in the cities, so always good to see it spread further.
Jambo?
Karibu to Bitcoin chama.
Bitcoin Chama is a community based organization located in Rural Kenya aimed at creating self-reliant communities thanks to
#BITCOIN
1/X
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Looking for a research analyst in Nairobi that already has a background in energy. Any suggestions?
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“African Bitcoin Conversations”
Oct 5th at 6-8pm, at the
@iHub
in Nairobi
Session 1: How to become a Bitcoin Core Dev with
-
@obi
(
@btrustteam
board)
-
@Vlad_kwasi
(Bitcoin core dev)
Session 2: Bitcoin mining in Africa
- With experienced miners from the US, EU and Africa
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Good conversation between
@Raivineet
and
@KoinangeJeff
on the way to use business and investment to create wealth and social change in Africa, but also how that differs from India.
#sankalpafrica19
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$1.2M to address Kenya’s internet affordability gap
$1M in targeted technical assistance and analytical capabilities to support development of Kenya’s framework for high-integrity carbon markets
$1 million to YALI’s Regional Leadership Center
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Kenyans made 50% of all global mobile money transactions. Over 2.1 trillion Ksh ($23 billion)
#SOTN
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My favorite part about
@uber_kenya
is the way drivers accept to pickup a passenger, but then don’t move to come pick you up until you call them 5 minutes later.
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We have a few remaining Rhodesian
#Ridgeback
puppies looking for good homes.
Well socialized, registered, pedigree, shots, all done. 100k each.
DM if in Nairobi and interested!
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This might be the most insidious tax in Kenya’s new finance bill:
The rich guys creating the law get a capped tax on their expensive cars.
The gritty guys trying to make a living with a cheap car get hammered.
@citizentvkenya
@SamGituku
The 100,000 cap should be removed & instead vehicles used by hustlers exempted. Eg. Cars below 600,000. The effective rate of 100,000 on a 20 million vehicle bought as a luxury is 0.5%. Very unfair to that probox guy being charged 2.5% to distribute his merchandise to shops.
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A big thanks to
@gladstein
,
@ck_SNARKs
and the rest of the team from HRF for putting on an amazing event of global community leaders, alongside the folks at
@bitcoinpark_
- good to finally meet and spend time with
@bitkite
,
@harry_sudock
, and
@ODELL
too!
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This is what CEOs should do.
@AirBnB
founder
@bchesky
meets with Nairobi’s most active AirBnB hosts.
http://t.co/3GrYwGYHA0
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“There is no such thing as “Stranded” energy anymore.”
@denverbitcoin
Love this statement. Any stranded power can now be monetized by Bitcoin and doesn’t need to be stranded any longer.
(Found via
@lisa_hough_
)
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