Can blockchain make a difference? Africa sees vast monetary potential

As technological innovations continue to spread across Africa, the continent could provide some unique use cases for blockchain technology.

The use of blockchain technology is becoming part of the equation as it permeates different industries and institutions.

"Countries in Africa including Ghana are looking into using blockchain for land registry and many countries at digital identity, provenance in supply chains, healthcare and financing. E-commerce and fintech are major drivers of the digital economy in Africa. I see this growing and paving the way for more blockchain activity."

Victor Mapunga, a Zimbabwean blockchain entrepreneur who co-founded FlexID - a blockchain-based digital identity solution wallet running on the Algorand protocol - told Cointelegraph that infrastructure powering the use and trade of cryptocurrencies has been a major driver of blockchain technology across the continent, but a plethora of use cases are already being explored: "There is still a lot of work to be done, so far peer-to-peer and centralized crypto exchanges have been the predominant flavor."

Cape Town-based software developer and smart contract engineer Stephen Young, the founder and CEO of decentralized finance platform NFTfi - a peer-to-peer marketplace for nonfungible token collateralized loans - told Cointelegraph that cryptocurrency onboarding infrastructure like centralized and P2P exchanges have rolled out efficiently in different African countries and is the most prominent use of blockchain technology on the continent.

Peter Munnings, a former ConsenSys engineer who co-founded decentralized liquidity management and international payments firm Adhara in 2018, pointed out to Cointelegraph the potential of improved cross-border settlement through blockchain solutions on the back of his experience working in the South African banking sector, "Across Africa, settlement is slow and complicated because of the lack of liquidity." According to him, most intra-African settlements are still undertaken through the United States, adding, "Going from Kenyan shillings to Tanzanian shillings through USD is always going to be slow and complicated."

Chivunga believes that blockchain technology could become an important catalyst for transforming some major industries across Africa.

"An area I am passionate about is the opportunity blockchain presents to decentralize access to wealth to support greater financial inclusion and support especially for micro, small and medium enterprises; they make up at least 80% of businesses in Africa yet so under-resourced."The road ahead. As blockchain solutions are slowly being explored and developed to address uniquely African challenges, the potential for greater influence seems almost limitless.

Education is a very important component to help the proliferation of blockchain technology and its potential application for Africa's most pertinent challenges.

"As the foundations are strengthened, I think Africa will see more solutions developed not only with blockchain but a convergence or mix of technologies. Africa can actually drive greater adoption, avoiding the legacy challenges, and designing solutions that are homegrown could benefit Africa significantly."