How Blockchain Is Solving Real Problems in Africa

Most individuals associate the word, blockchain, with directly referring to Bitcoin or cryptocurrency. The thing is that blockchain is more than that though. It is a lightening technology that documents data such that, it is safe, visible and can hardly be amended. This very basic concept is working to solve real problems in Africa.

Blockchain is demonstrating that it can offer hope in a continent where the slowing pace of progress is due to the corruption, poor infrastructures, untrust and weak financial systems. In case with Africa, it is not a simple trading of coins but more of the time to address things that are difficult to be solved by governments, banks, and old systems through the use of technology.

Corruption is one of the greatest issues in Africa. There are good policies by many governments whereas the money expected to be utilized on projects is lost before it gets to the individuals. There are times when budgets are over estimated and there are times when records are manipulated.

This can be dealt with by blockchain since its stores the records that are immutable. With an illustration, in case of transactions related to government spending or contracts being placed on the block chain, everyone will be able to view it. Citizens will be aware of the amounts of money designated to roads, schools or hospitals. There is no chance later to revisit the numbers.

Say the budget or election results of Nigeria were kept on a blockchain. It would limit manipulation since the records would be transparent and free. This is the reason why, on the one hand, a great number of professionals think that blockchain can combat corruption in Africa.

Land ownership is a problem in most African nations. Individuals lose their land due to the lack of paperwork, fraudulent land deeds or in cases where the land is bought by a dishonest official and sold to other individuals. Couples and families spend years in and out of court in trying to establish who owns what.

Blockchain has the capability of assisting by developing digital land records. When land ownership is registered to the blockchain, then this information will be permanent and immutable. Title cannot be forged or replicated by anybody. Projects trying this idea already exist in such countries as Ghana, Rwanda, and South Africa.

In the case of Nigerians, it would alleviate the pressure of land conflicts which in most cases, result into fisticuffs or a lengthy court procedure. When blockchain came into the picture, your land record would be as safe as your fingerprint.

The other challenge in Africa is millions of people do not have access to bank accounts. Banks are very distant in the countryside and it is hard to open an account. In the absence of banks, individuals cannot make deposits that are safe, borrow loans and transfer funds easily.

The blockchain offers the solution with the help of cryptocurrencies and digital wallets. Storing and sending money can be done by anyone with the aid of a mobile phone. You won t need a branch of a bank, long forms to fill and large fees to pay. This adds to why crypto adoption has gone sky-rocketing in Africa. It is not only investment but the fundamental financial inclusion.

In Nigeria, we have more demonstrated the above; young people have begun to store stablecoins, such USDT, in a wallet, such as Trust Wallet or Binance. This assists them in securing their money against the depreciating naira hence making it easy to trade or pay up services.

Blockchain speeds up and reduces the cost of remittance. A brother living in the UK is able to send crypto money to family in Nigeria and they access in a few minutes with minimal or no fee. They can later trade it to naira by use of peer-to-peer (P2P).

That is why blockchain is gaining traction as the spine of remittances in Africa. It conserves money and time to the families.

Farming is the most important activity in Africa and farmers are faced with numerous challenges. Middlemen cheat them and thus they tend to sell their produce at low prices. In some cases, there is also entry of fake products too, lowering trust.

This can be enhanced with blockchain via supply chain monitoring. When the products are scanned at every stage of the farm to market, consumers can have a positive guarantee of what they purchase. As an example, cocoa of a Nigerian plantation can be traced and be identified as real and organic. This adds more value to the farmers.

Also, blockchain may assist in funding farmers to become eligible to loans with the harvests proven through blockchain. Lenders will be able to have confidence that the farmers are genuine because the information is transparent.

Fake certificates happen in Africa. Others end up securing employment in jobs or in politics using fake degrees. Student records are also lost by universities on occasions.

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Blockchain will help this by preserving the academic records. Employers may confirm the certificate of any graduate using the blockchain. This will curb fraud as well as ensuring that evidence of qualification is easy to provide even when the physical copy of the school record has been lost.

As an illustration, in the event that results are stored on blockchain by WAEC or JAMB in Nigeria, the situation of missing results or forgery of certificates would not occur. Employers would do a direct check online.

Africa has a problem with healthcare since there is poor management of medical records. When a patient switches hospitals, he/she may need to repeat the same process as his health records are no longer available. This consumes time and in some occasions gets the wrong treatment.

Using blockchain, the medical records may be safeguarded and be accessed by the licensed doctors. This implies that regardless of where a patient travels to, his or her history can be checked easily. It also minimises health insurance frauds where claims can be checked in the blockchain.

Electricity is not dependable in most areas across Africa. There are also communities which are utilizing solar mini-grids. Such energy systems can be paid by blockchain. The small payments can be made by people through the use of blockchain tokens accrued by use of power without the wait of monthly bills.

This is in test in Kenya and South Africa whereby blockchain aids in role in access to affordable electricity in the rural communities.

The population of Africa is the youngest global one with a significant unemployment issue. Block chain has created new employment opportunities. Youths are trading in blockchain development, cryptocurrencies, the creation of NFTs and management of Web3 communities.

In Nigeria, a significant number of the young graduates who could not get decent job opportunities are currently living by activities related to blockchain. This is assisting in cutting down unemployment and inspiring the youth.

Lastly, establishment of trust in governance is one of the greatest ways through which blockchain will address the problems in Africa. In most African countries, elections are surrounded by controversy as there is accusation of rigging. Transparent and safe outcomes will be achieved in case block chain is used as a method of voting. Every vote would be represented in a manner which is not alterable.

To Nigerians this would imply elections in which their voices would be properly heard. Violence would lessen and there would be more faith in democracy.

Blockchain is more than Bitcoin or trading. It is a technology which is putting a solution to real problems in Africa. It could be used in battling corruption and land titling, financial inclusion, healthcare, agriculture, education and many more.

These are indeed the African issues, and equally are the solutions that blockchain will provide. Although this has some obstacles including lack of internet coverage, low level of education, and government opposition, all these have not deterred the current gains of blockchain as a transformational tool.

Blockchain in the case of Nigerians and other Africans is an opportunity but also the future of the continent because, with blockchain, every single transaction would be visible, money would not fluctuate, elections would be free and fair and opportunities would be democratized.