Lorien is VERY VERY real! I saw him demo the (early version?) Bitcoin smart meter product in South Africa in 2015 and I also hung out with him at a Prague Bitcoin conference a few weeks later( he was one of the main reasons I decided to go to the Prague conference). He is a great guy and there need to be more people like him walking the Bitcoin walk in Africa. A lot of people TALK about how Africa and Bitcoin seem to work well together, but few are actually doing things to bring Bitcoin usage and awareness to the continent.