Kenyan firms Land Layby Group and Nurse in Hand are running blockchain trials according to a report by Liquid Telecom. Land Layby wants to apply blockchain technology in the storage of land records to prevent fraud and double ownership while Nurse in Hand has collaborated with Apla tech Company to apply the technology in the creation of an accident and emergency response platform.
According to Its Blockchain, Land Layby “is implementing smart contracts based on the Ethereum blockchain for land registry processes and management in Kenya and Ghana.”
Blockchain Trials in Africa
The report notes that the interest in blockchain technology across Africa is great with banks appearing to lead the space.
“Africa has the levels of innovation and entrepreneurship needed to harness blockchain effectively,” said Dirk Kotze, a partner at Deloitte Financial Services.
“In East Africa, organisations are leapfrogging other technologies and moving to experiment with blockchain. There is quite an appetite to see where they can leverage the blockchain technology,” he added.
In Tanzania, AID:Tech and PharmAccess are using the former’s blockchain platform to “collect and verify digital health data to make antenatal care more effective” in the country.
Other blockchain trials are being conducted by ImpactPPA and Earth Day Network in Somaliland, Project Khokha in South Africa, Kurecoin project in Nigeria, and Binkabi in Côte d’Ivoire.
The Africa Blockchain Alliance is another blockchain trial based in Nigeria with partners in Kenya, the US, Ethiopia, Senegal, Uganda, Namibia, Zimbabwe, and the UK.
The Potential for Blockchain Technology
Blockchain technology has the potential to disrupt a lot of sectors such as banking, land registry, voting, healthcare, and the supply chain.
According to the chairman of the Kenya Blockchain and AI taskforce Bitange Ndemo, “If countries do not begin to build new capabilities and capacities for these technologies then they will be bystanders.”
The Kenyan taskforce has so far advocated for the creation of digital identities for all citizens and a local cryptocurrency.
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