Can Africa Be Saved By Blockchain?

It seems that cryptocurrency has begun to make its influence known in Africa. It has send waves through the young tech savvy circles, creating a hunger for the various uses of these alternative investment products. For them currency side is less important than the emerging technology that is spreading across the continent. They see how their counterparts in the developed nations are to blockchain into secure and continuously growing digital ecosystem that is intrinsic to the cryptocurrency infrastructure. Lets hope this exposure inspires Africans to create innovative solutions to domestic issues. Blockchain has the power to be the foundation for transformations in sectors through out African society.

At the current moment the fate of blockchain in Africa is at a precarious crossroads. Some governments expose their fear by racing to impose restrictions and some work on embracing the innovations and benefits that blockchain technology provides. it is well known that African countries constantly suffer from instability and poor financial/physical infrastructure caused mostly by corruption and mismanagement: With the introduction of blockchain and its immutable ledger technology as well as the many other innovations that can be worked into the blockchain it is possible to but a strain on corruption. A blockchain could easily keep track of supplies funds and services rendered and their metadata which will help improve transparency in places where money seems to just disappear.

We can already see how Some nations are embracing Blockchain technology in attempts to quell age old problems that have plagued Africa. In Sierra Leon they have just had an election that was aided by blockchain and although we have not yet hear about the impact of this experiment it is still a promising prospect for where African governments are taking the technology. In Kenya Entrepreneurs have started incubators to help budding startups achieve their goals and building the infrastructure that will be needed for Africa's blockchain revolution.

One use case that I look forward to is Blockchain-based land registries which will help tackle the ever growing issue of real estate fraud and property rights. This would be really helpful In Ghana and Nigeria where land fraud is a serious concern. There is a startup called Bitland which seeks to provide these much needed land registry services via smart contracts on the Bitshares blockchain. This service helps alleviate the burden of property rights disputes by confirming transactions with the blockchain and not the often corrupt local authorities.

There are many obstacles and it may take a few decades but the impact of blockchain will be felt and when it is Africa will look very different. It is up to the people to convince the politicians and other big men on the continent that using blockchain is for the benefit of everyone. A paradigm shift is coming and it will take Africa and the world by storm!