Samson Mow, we here at Project Mano have been watching you and looking up to you for over two years. Project Mano is a movement started by Bitcoiner Ethiopians looking to orange pill the Ethiopian Government. Our initial proposal was written directly to the Ethiopian Prime Minister in 2020, when bitcoin price was just 10k$ USD. You can find the letter here:
https://shinkurt.medium.com/an-open-letter-to-pm-abiy-ahmed-71a5a0a5a249
The Project Mano initiative proposes three methods to help the Ethiopian Government escape the current and ever-increasing foreign currency shortage and sudden high inflation caused by various factors. We have been proposing the use of an idle and remote hydroelectric dam (capable of generating around 6000 MW) that was recently built to mine Bitcoin. We also propose for the government to acquire bitcoin for holding, and to put some in our sovereign fund to help fight off our exponentially rising inflation.
We know you must be busy, so we won’t make this letter longer than it needs to, but we want to highlight some points that make Ethiopia the ideal target for the next big Bitcoin orange pilling. We have been trying to push the Ethiopian Government to look into Bitcoin without much success for more than two years. Over the years we have learned a lot and are completely convinced Bitcoin mining has the ability to triple Ethiopia’s income from exports, solve the entire foreign currency shortage situation while simultaneously transforming the lives of over a hundred million people.
We have heard you say you are going to be working towards orange pilling nations. We want to list to you the reasons why we believe Ethiopia is ready to be the next nation and how it fits all of your boxes for which nations might go full Bitcoiner next.
As mentioned in the projectmano.com/plan proposal, Ethiopia is going through a very high and rapid inflation period because of internal conflict, the unprecedented covid crisis, and many other reasons. Some of the reasons Ethiopia seems to be the country best positioned to begin embracing Bitcoin are:
- There is a clear interest in the crypto space from the government.
- The country is experiencing high inflation margins because of internal conflict and covid.
- It has a significant trade deficit that can’t easily be solved through traditional investments, which requires innovative thinking.
- There is an unassigned and already built 6469MegaWatt of energy that is locationally, politically & financially awkward to use.
- The energy generated using a new dam is in a very remote religion that transferring power to important cities or selling power to neighboring nations is an expensive and tedious process.
- Ethiopia still uses paper cash as a primary method of transaction, which doesn’t allow the central bank to sync all parameters of the economy to work together efficiently.
- Because most of the population (~55%) is unbanked, once the money reaches the hands of some of the population, the government and banks do not see much of it again. This makes it difficult to recycle; the government is required to print new cash to establish new spending abilities, devaluing the currency even more.
- It will be a win-win case for Bitcoin & Ethiopia if the Bitcoin network gets 6k MW of clean renewable energy; simultaneously advancing Ethiopia’s accelerating economy & attracting new investment.
- In January 2022, Ethiopia got sanctioned from a lucrative trade contract called AGOA. AGOA was the country’s biggest export trade agreement covering around 50% of trades with the US, which was its biggest trading partner. This has caused a sudden drop in exports and resulted in severe inflation while making over 100,000 people lose their jobs.
- The country’s total export is just a little over 3 billion dollars. Bitcoin mining using already built infrastructure can easily double the current export numbers.
- The country has an energy generation potential of over 60,000 MegaWatts using renewable sources like Hydro and Geothermal. But only 10% of it has been harvested.
Ethiopia for the reasons mentioned above is looking desperately to find solutions that work to stop the sudden rise in inflation and we here at Project Mano believe that Bitcoin fixes all of it. We believe Ethiopia can sell bonds to buy resources for mining Bitcoin using the newly built Grand Renaissance Ethiopian Dam (GERD) capable of generating over 6,000 MegaWatt of energy.
The 60,000 Megawatts of potential renewable energy that the country has is obviously not easy to realize. If Ethiopia invites Bitcoiners and Ethiopians around the world to help us realize our energy potential, either by following the El Salvador Bitcoin Bond Model or by starting to mine Bitcoin by ourselves, we can set up power infrastructure that the population can use, while also helping convert the excess energy into money that is fully sovereign.
Samson Mow, we have been following your work for over two years. We believe our goals are aligned. Ethiopia could be the next nation to adopt Bitcoin. We are a nation filled with pioneers and people looking for innovative ways to escape the industrial phase. While that greatness might be forgotten by the current generation, we were the founders of some of the most complex ancient civilizations (Axum, Lalibela…). Ethiopia has led Africa to make wise economic and cultural decisions countless times. It is an inspiration and breath of hope for the whole of Africa for having resisted colonization. Ethiopia is home to the African Union and the birthplace of humanity. Ethiopia can lead Africa into the bitcoin future.
We believe with your help, Ethiopia can realize the potential bitcoin has to transform the nation in a short time. With your help, Ethiopians can stop living in a rapidly increasing inflationary environment that encourages dangerous behavior among its population. If we do this successfully, we will escape the industrial phase and improve the life qualities of millions of people. Our longer proposal mentions all of this in more detail at bitcoin.com.et
Samson Mow, we ask you to seriously consider how you can help orange-pill Ethiopia. We promise, you won’t be disappointed.