Tether CEO’s Africa Pitch Revives ETHSafari Questions on Web3 Infrastructure

A century ago in North America, investors betting on power grids, post offices, and financial systems were backing the infrastructure that would define generations. Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino believes Africa is at a similar inflection point today.

However, his bold analogy and its online reactions have reopened the question of how Africa’s Web3 future will be built.

Paolo Ardoino Reveals Tether’s Vision for Africa

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino revealed on Tuesday that the firm plans to invest in a company whose name has been withheld.

“Tether is investing in an amazing company,” wrote Ardoino.

In a follow-up post on X (Twitter), Paolo Ardoino extrapolated the speculation. While he still withheld the company name, Ardoino compared Africa to North America a century ago.

He framed Tether’s African push as an infrastructural moonshot. The crypto executive equated stablecoin-powered rails to the backbone systems that modernized economies in the early 20th century.

His remarks came alongside claims that Tether operates at a 99% profit margin. Together, these signal the resources and ambition backing the initiative.

“If you were asked to invest in the Company that would build the power grid, the post office, and finance markets one century ago in North America, would you take that bet? That’s what we’re doing in Africa. Building decentralized energy, communications, and finances for the continent,” wrote Ardoino

However, not everyone embraced the framing, with some calling out the Tether executive for implying Africa is 100 years behind.

[This] is not the case. Best to rephrase the tweet,” challenged analyst Duo Nine.

Moreover, the debate reflects the tightrope global players must walk when discussing Africa’s growth potential. Oftentimes, they must balance the continent’s challenges with respect for its progress and agency.

ETHSafari’s Parallel Debates

These tensions mirror the conversations that dominated ETHSafari 2025 in Nairobi.

Founders, developers, and investors debated whether Africa’s crypto future should be built primarily on capital injections, technical innovation, or community-driven adoption.

In BeInCrypto’s coverage, Lisk’s COO Dominic Schwenter argued that Africa could be Web3’s biggest growth market. The Lisk executive cited a young population, digital connectivity, and being underserved by traditional finance (TradFi).

“Africa has the highest entrepreneurship rate in the world—one in five adults owns their own business…the continent represents what happens when Web3 bypasses the speculation phase and goes straight to solving real problems,” Schwenter told BeInCrypto.

In the same tone, African founders at ETHSafari stressed that while global capital matters, what really moves the needle is locally grounded solutions.

These range from payments and remittances to supply chain transparency. Still, while Ardoino’s analogy may have stumbled in its delivery, the core idea resonates.

Africa represents an opportunity to leapfrog legacy systems with decentralized infrastructure. With over 60% of the population under 25, high mobile penetration, and vast numbers excluded from banking, the conditions for adoption are unique.

The question is whose vision will prevail. Will it be shaped by global stablecoin giants like Tether, positioning themselves as the builders of new rails?

Or will Africa’s crypto future be defined from the ground up, as founders building on Lisk argued, by communities building solutions tailored to local realities?

Ardoino’s pitch has reignited the debate, ensuring Africa remains central to Web3’s most urgent conversations.

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