Blockchain Education in Africa: An Establishment Of Global Talent Source?

 

The success of FinTech companies in Africa in recent years is difficult to overestimate: the continent has made significant progress in various areas of the digital economy. Experts particularly note the development of mobile payments, as well as blockchain and cryptocurrencies. Obviously, not all African countries are doing well, but Africa still has formed some clusters for the development of the digital economy. Having achieved success, these clusters, of course, will engage in expansion. There is one rather weighty problem on their way — the lack of specialists. Well, if there is a problem, there is often a solution. Moreover, the answer is obvious and can bring outstanding results — education is the key.

 

Not to import, but to cultivate

In 2011, the Economist predicted an excellent future for Africa, and for a good reason: the economies of many countries are developing at a very intense pace. In the next decade, this fast-running train will need new personnel. Why import expensive professionals when you can educate on the spot? There are many prerequisites.

First, many developed countries were cautiously investing in Africa, realizing that this is a risky and undeveloped area, but no one wants to miss the opportunity. FinTech startups go to Africa in search of new markets, they scale up and want to hire local ones who are familiar with the market specifics. When Binance came to Uganda, many people were amazed, but soon they understood the prospects — Africans make decisions quickly, seeing opportunities. Step by step, a developing country becomes attractive for investment.

“We talked to authorities such as National Social Security Found (NSSF). Here we could see a difference that the decisions take about 6 months to make the first blockchain pilot projects. In Europe we know that such projects will only become interesting in 5-10 years,”

— Paul MIZEL, CEO of Asure.Network, shared his impressions. According to him, the agrarian country is already implementing the blockchain. The farmer industry is in a state of rapid development, e.g. in the coffee sector Uganda is the largest African exporter, according to Uganda Coffee Farmers Alliance (UCFA). In this area, the projects try to improve supply chain processes with the help of blockchain technology by ensuring transparency, cost savings and origin. Experts in this area are worth their weight in gold.

Understanding this fact, successful local entrepreneurs are also interested in scaling: community building initiatives help them proceed. Due to this fact, associations, academies, schools are established in Africa. It is much cheaper to nurture talents here, and the best of the best can be attracted to the projects run by founders. Particularly successful FinTech clusters have succeeded in Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa.

Make haste while the sun shines

Kenya had experienced a technological boom since 2007 when the political unrest in the country was settled. In the same year, the telecommunications company Safaricom initiated the development of M-Pesa, a mobile payment tech. For the past two years, Kenyans have been actively developing DLT and its practical application, says Nakia J WHITE, a blockchain specialist.

In addition to private courses and schools in Nairobi, they have achieved significant success in cooperation with the International University of Kenya — in 2019, adoption of blockchain curriculum was scheduled. Nakia said in an interview that the program is aimed not only at raising engineers, but also managers who can sell this technology and implement it in the business architecture. According to her, the experience of introducing DLT in the real estate segment has already paid off in combating corruption, fraud, and bureaucracy.

With such practical experience, African blockchain experts will be in high demand. Understanding this, they seek to get a relevant education and improve their qualifications — this guarantees further employment. It’s possible that many of them will find the use of their skills in the global labor market.

“Kenya is at the forefront of the blockchain implementation. There is the African Digital Asset framework, led my Marvin H. Coleby, the Blockchain and AI committee led by Bitange Ndemo and the accouchement of leveraging blockchain for affordable housing by Housing Cabinet Secretary Charles Hinga,”

— Nakia J WHITE notes the active interest of the government in educational programs.

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However, most of the educational tasks and training are still based on private initiatives. It was told by John LOMBELA, an entrepreneur from South Africa, the head of the Cryptovecs Capital. As a software developer with a decade of experience, John saw opportunities in cryptocurrency that he successfully implemented. Now he wants to share his experience and knowledge with students, but it's not so easy. Pushing the initiative into government institutions is hampered by the same bureaucracy and often common misunderstanding on the part of the management of the universities.

However, the initiative group, which is led by John LOMBELA himself and Yaliwe SOKO, the chairwoman of the Blockchain Association of Africa, does not give up — the Blockchain Academy project is fully ready and will be launched sooner or later. According to Yaliwe, in Africa they adhere to the principle of ‘each one teach one’ — if you succeed in something, then teach another person. According to the organizers, the creation of educational platforms in Africa will give a second wind to the industry on the continent, and it is better to be in the workflow at that moment — perhaps it will overwhelm the industry throughout the world.

Imaqe courtesy of: Mattlumine.com