Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (Photo by Minasse Wondimu Hailu/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
As of Dec 2024, Africa now accounts for 3% of the total global Bitcoin mining hashrate, with Ethiopia alone producing 2.5%, more than double what the entire continent produced in 2023, entirely via renewable energy.
Following the green lighting of Bitcoin mining earlier this year in Ethiopia, we’ve seen a significant increase in the Bitcoin mining operations there, with over $1 Billion spent on mining infrastructure in 2024 (according to reports), with other countries such as Kenya joining the ranks of African countries keen on leveraging Bitcoin mining to bolster economic growth, electrify communities, and manage green energy projects.
Africa is a hotspot for global Bitcoin miners, as it hosts some of the world’s cheapest green energy, such as Ethiopia’s 3.2 cents per kilowatt-hour.
Numerous local Bitcoin miners, such as Gridless, continue to showcase the significant milestones in catalyzing, standardizing, and innovating green Bitcoin mining and rural electrification in Africa with their activities using hydro and biomass in Kenya.
As Bitcoin mining continues to rise on the continent, the Green Africa Mining Alliance, spearheaded by Gridless and other local Bitcoin miners such as Trojan Mining, whose operations in Nigeria have this year crossed the 1MW milestone, will continue to be necessary for providing best practices, case studies, and templates for the horde of new miners setting up in Africa.
In 2024, Bitcoin mining remains domiciled mainly in East Africa, with Ethiopia leading in shear hashrate, which accounts for 2.5% of global hashrate. According to numbers from Ethiopia Electric Power (EEP), this year alone, Ethiopia raked in over $55 million from electricity sales for Bitcoin mining, which accounted for 18% of their total revenue.
These revenues contributed to quickening the construction of the much-needed transmission lines to help deliver the electricity from its Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), which boasts a capacity of over 6 Gigawatts. Thus, Bitcoin mining is emerging as a suitable catalyst for delivering electricity to the country.
With the GERD now producing 30% (roughly 1,500 MW) of its planned capacity, coupled with the surge in interest to mine in Ethiopia, we can expect to see the EEP’s revenues increase beyond the $100m mark and continue to fast-track the construction of transmission lines to electrify rural communities and provide electricity to millions of Ethiopians.
Following the successes in Ethiopia and developments yet to unfold from Kenya in 2025 as it proceeds with its partnership with MARA, other countries will also likely join in on providing an enabling environment for Bitcoin mining and leverage it as a tool to solve its energy challenges—as doing so has shown to provide the much-needed revenue to boost electricity infrastructure development, create jobs, sustainably electrify rural communities, and catalyze green energy production.
Additionally, as more Bitcoin mining gains ground in West Africa, 2025 could see countries such as Nigeria joining the Bitcoin mining race via hydroelectricity and flared gas, with other regions facing similar energy challenges joining the mix.
Bitcoin mining will continue to be a staple on the continent as countries continue to leverage it to sustainably catalyzing energy infrastructure development, rural electrification, and economic development through Bitcoin mining.
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