Africa is a continent made up of several nations, many of which are dynamic rising economies. It is a known fact that the African continent is still in transition. The continent is gradually embracing the digital revolution and new technologies that can immensely contribute to its growth and development. One of these technologies is Blockchain Technology.  

How Blockchain Can Transition Africa

Blockchain technology is a part of our contemporary environment. In recent years, it has made its way to the sphere of practical application, both on the African continent and globally. The potential of blockchain technology in developing nations stems from the almost universality of connected devices. Because of its traceability and accountability, it has sparked a lively discussion across Africa. It is now seen as a ground-breaking solution capable of overcoming the numerous systemic flaws affecting the continent. Technology shortcomings are to blame for some of these systemic flaws. Most issues are pertinent to public spending, digital payments, trade facilitation, and governance. The good news, though, is that most of the difficulties in Africa can be addressed using the fundamental blockchain concepts of decentralization and transparency. Since Africa opened its arms to receive blockchain technology, the continent is still witnessing a noteworthy revolution. Here are some of the ways blockchain is revolutionizing the African continent:  

HouseAfrica: Africa’s First Blockchain-Based Property Registry

Nigerian real estate company, HouseAfrica, is taking property management to a new level with blockchain technology. The company, established in May 2018, focuses on finding solutions to issues brought on by duplicate land titles, unauthorized land sales, and limited mortgage access. Its technology guarantees that land titles are authentic and open to everyone using an immutable ledger and a visual map reference.  

HouseAfrica is a decentralized real estate and rental ecosystem that uses blockchain technology to build high-quality, cheap homes and open the African real estate market to foreign and domestic investors. Lack of good, affordable housing is one of the African markets’ most common challenges. Pressure from the high and rising demand is driving up real estate prices throughout the continent. With the help of blockchain technology, HouseAfrica is making purchasing and renting real estate more straightforward for investors while also lowering the cost and providing convenience and security for these activities. 

Due to cartels’ frequent cooperation with officials to establish various parallel titles, land purchases in Africa have always been marred by shady properties. The promising blockchain technology is now replacing the conventional method, and nations like Kenya and South Africa have also invested heavily in land-titling systems. Information may be kept in unchangeable digital registries using blockchain technology, which also double-checks each entry.  

Virunga National Park: Bitcoin Mining From a Very Unlikely Source 

With more than a thousand different species of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and a third of the world’s critically endangered mountain gorillas, Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo is Africa’s most biodiverse protected territory. Virunga is Africa’s oldest protected park and a symbol of the continent’s biodiversity. The park has made history by becoming the world’s first national park to run a Bitcoin mine. The park started mining in September 2020, when most countries had partial or total lockdowns due to Covid-19. 

The mine, powered by one of the park’s three hydroelectric facilities, uses clean energy and employs nine full-time employees to run the 250–500 drilling rigs housed in 10 shipping containers. The Bitcoin mine in Virunga offers a special way to protect the park’s biodiversity while making money. Virunga’s mine uses sustainable clean energy, which makes it environmentally benign, as opposed to conventional Bitcoin mining, which consumes a lot of energy.

The park made more than $150,000 per month during the 2021 bull run, almost completely making up for lost visitor revenue. Bitcoin sales already contribute to funding park infrastructure projects, including roads, water pumping stations, and employee salaries.   

Bitcoin ATMs in Africa

A bitcoin ATM lets you purchase bitcoin with cash. It operates differently from a typical ATM, where you insert your card and get actual cash out. 

At the time of writing, there are 15 Bitcoin ATMs in Africa. As a result of the widespread use of cryptocurrencies, the number of sites housing Bitcoin ATMs has been fast growing. 

These devices (Bitcoin ATMs) let you buy (and occasionally sell) Bitcoin, while others let you convert your BTC into fiat money. Some even allow users to do both. The process is straightforward: you place fiat money into the device and get Bitcoins in your wallet.  

Some of these machines only allow you to purchase Bitcoin, while others also let you purchase Ethereum, Dash, and Litecoin. They are located in the following countries: 

1. Nigeria (1) 

2. Kenya (1) 

3. Djibouti (1) 

4. South Africa (7) 

5. Ghana (2) 

6. Botswana (1) 

7. Zimbabwe (1) 

8. Uganda (1) 

Johannesburg, South Africa, became the first city on the continent to host a permanent bitcoin ATM following its installation in 2014.

AgriLedger: A ‘Seed to Customer’ Platform

Founded by Genevieve Leveille, AgriLedger is a provider of blockchain and DLT technologies focused on food supply chains. AgriLedger addresses the issues of expanding populations and the world’s food supply while demonstrating how blockchain technology may transform food security and safety. 

To address issues on a worldwide scale, AgriLedger collaborates with businesses, governments, non-profits, and other groups. Since no other player is currently providing a solution that offers complete traceability of agricultural products from the first mile to the last mile, they have an advantage over other players in the market. Farmers, cooperatives, transportation companies, wholesalers, food processing facilities, cold storage facilities, retailers, seed suppliers, machinery suppliers, and banks are all involved in their coordination efforts. It is simpler to integrate farmers and other stakeholders in China since they have access to the market thanks to a deal with the regional and provincial governments.

Traceability of data in the food supply chain is made possible by blockchain agriculture, which enhances food safety. The ability of blockchain to store and manage data creates traceability, which is utilized to facilitate the creation and use of technologies for intelligent farming and index-based crop insurance.  

AgriLedger’s success is built on a simple concept: Create trust within African and Asian cooperatives by recording traditional, and mostly oral, contracts into the blockchain. AgriLedger is designed to capture these transactions for illiterate farmers on mobile and tablet devices. Ghana, Ethiopia, and Kenya lead the African countries where AgriLedger has been deployed.

An African metaverse 

Africarare, the continent’s first metaverse, was created to realize the potential of Africa and link it to the global digital economy. Located in Ubuntuland, Africarare is a 3D virtual reality experience. The currency of Ubuntuland in Africarare is called the $UBUNTU Token. Ubuntuland can be purchased, exchanged, or kept using the $UBUNTU Token and utilized for various activities, including art shows, gaming, and social interactions. 

Africarare, which is devoted to highlighting Africa’s prodigious creativity, has two art galleries. The Inuka gallery, Swahili for “rising,” displays works by up-and-coming African artists. Meanwhile, the Mila gallery, Swahili for “tradition,” houses curated collections by some of the continent’s most renowned painters. Ongoing exhibitions are held at both venues, and artworks are offered for sale as NFTs. 

Creators and developers can mine and trade in-world assets like land, avatars, avatar upgrades, and other things and services that are or will be available in Ubuntuland on the Africarare market. The marketplace is primarily concerned with four topics: art, Ubuntuland, avatars and skins, and digital services. Additionally, users can trade on auxiliary platforms like Opensea and others.

Conclusion

By investing in her talent and education, a leading cryptocurrency and blockchain adoptions, and creating stringent rules that entice people to enter the area, Africa has the potential to become a prominent participant in the blockchain space. Blockchain technology can potentially change how Africa’s financial system is digitalized completely. Through effectively described data management technologies and institutional digitalization processes, such a digitization process will continually improve service delivery with new products and services.

Interested in marketing your blockchain/Web3 project? Please contact Off-Chain Communications for a free consultation and quote.

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