Developing nations like Nigeria stand a chance to benefit from the US$ 1.76 trillion market, if they can position themselves to adopt and leverage Blockchain technologies. Kashifu Inuwa, Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), made this case today, Day 2 of the Digital Nigeria 2022 International Conferences, Exhibitions and Awards.
The NITDA boss said “Developing countries like Nigeria, if we position ourselves, we can increase our GDP by at least 0.5 percent, which is almost US$ 25 billion. So today we are here to explore how we can position ourselves. The government has been doing it. It is in site. We have developed blockchain adoption strategies.”
He revealed the NITDA Blockchain adoption strategy has four initiatives. “Firstly, to establish a consortia that will build the ecosystem. And today we are here to build that ecosystem and community! Secondly, to strengthen the regulatory instruments and have legal framework. and last week, the president signed the Nigerian startup Bill into law, now the Nigeria Startup Act 2022, which is going to provide legal instruments for all emerging technologies, including blockchain.”
Inuwa noted “Thirdly, initiatives to incentivize the ecosystem which would encourage the building of use cases using blockchain, adding that the Start Up Act would to achieve that as well. And, fourthly is to build sandbox. We are going to work with you to develop sandbox for proof of concept and proof of value around blockchains. So, all that this government is doing, aims to make Nigeria attractive to blockchain investment.”
He listed the benefits of Blockchain to include “Tracking and tracing. We can use it to solve our supply chain challenges. We can use it to track records like land titles. We can use it to track certificate, vaccine, and so many things, anything you can think of that needs that trust. Technology can also address payment system challenges and financial inclusion, adding that it can also be used to strengthen our identity management.
“Not only personal identity, but even things’ identities. We’re talking about the Internet of Things. That means everything connected to internet needs to be identified. With Blockchain, you can achieve that when you use blockchain and IoT. You can even use it to manage government spending. In the budgeting process, you can use it to attach every single Naira to what it is budgeted for. You can trace it, and make sure there is traceability for every Naira spent by the government.”
Blockchain Summit @ Digital Nigeria 2022: And then some..
The session witnessed panel discussions on Prioritizing Blockchain Technology, Implications for Digital Asset Innovation, Impacts of Blockchain on the Digital Economy: the Myth, the Truth and the Opportunities, and, One World Connected with Blockchain. The highlights of the summit were the inauguration of the Blockchain Campus Ambassadors and evolution of Blockchain Technology in Nigeria, in story-book form.
“Blockchain is here to stay, and we are rapidly moving away from traditional process to the Digital Transformation process,” concluded Ibrahim Jega, Co-Founder of Domineum Blockchain Solutions, who together with the NITDA had hosted nearly 2000 guests at this year’s Blockchain Summit @ Digital Nigeria 2022.
