Africa’s blockchain journey begins with poverty alleviation – CEO Sumotrust

There has been a resounding cry for Nigeria, and Africa in general, to incorporate Blockchain technology in their conventional way of life. However, during a fireside chat involving stakeholders from the Nigerian blockchain community, it was noted that poverty must first be overcome before blockchain technology can be properly incorporated into African society.

At the Blockchain Technology Association of Nigeria (SIBAN) Digital Asset Summit 2023 held in Abuja, the country's capital, GT Igwe Chrisent, CEO of Sumotrust & Truzact, an online savings and investment platform, stated that hunger and poverty come first. They must be eradicated from Africa before a better level of blockchain technology incorporation can be achieved.

According According to a World Bank report titled “A Better Future for All Nigerians: Nigeria Poverty Assessment 2022,” only 17 percent of Nigerian workers are in the salaried jobs that can best lift people out of poverty.

In Chrisent's opinion, being able to erase the poor class in general and move them to the middle class would be the biggest driver of a faster incorporation of blockchain technology. This is to allow them to afford three full meals a day and have a little extra to save. However, the stability of the economy in Africa is key to achieving this.

In his words:

“If we don't fix that, we will continue to have these conversations over and over again”

Despite the additional scalability that comes from incorporating blockchain technology as a nation and continent, people cannot focus on exploring them while still struggling with the problem of basic services, Chrisent said.

Related: Nigeria's Web3 education efforts seek to address language challenges

Despite the challenges of poverty, Nigeria has become one of the most active countries in terms of adoption and curiosity about Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. According According to Google Trends data, Nigeria ranks second in terms of search interest for the keyword “Bitcoin,” behind El Salvador.

The current president of Nigeria, Bola Tinubu. launched a manifesto during his campaign that, if implemented, would allow the use of blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies in the country's banking and financial sector.

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