Crypto Lark does a fine job of pulling recent developments together…
Not sure how or why more people arn’t fired up about what is going on with IOHK/Cardano in Africa.
Africa is the most interesting area of Cardano for me at the moment because of its very large and unbanked young demographic, not to mention, for the large part, sketchy legal systems. There’s so much potential there, the more you think about it, the more you see.
It is fascinating and I know IOHK do provide frequent updates on developments but because it’s so interesting I’d like to see more.
Another thing, It looks like John O’Conner is doing sterling work in East Africa but I don’t believe I’ve heard much about West Africa. Take the mega city Lagos, known to be the Silicon Valley and financial centre of Africa. A large and young population with exponential growth and an appetite for technology. This is where I’d like to see Cardano break into, but I suspect Lagos would need a dedicated person alone.
I think if Cardano are serious about making big waves in Africa then more people would be needed. It’s a huge populous continent with a potential to match.
Agree with your “sketchy legal system”. This is across the board in Africa and a major hurdle. There are legal systems in place that stem from colonial days which the empowered governments of the day are unwilling to change or don’t have the appetite to change as it would empower their voters. The land issue is one of these and just by a stroke of a pen and change of an act, a lot of the title deeds issue’s could be sorted out freeing thousands to get bank loans etc.
I’m hoping that for those in power, the perceived benefits of utilizing a transparent blockchain infrastructure (entry into global marketplace, foreign investment, etc) outweighs the perceived drawbacks to their grip on power. It’s a big continent so some countries will lead the charge and drag others along. This is game theory for the public good on a global scale. Very cool.
Unfortunately the logical theory does not apply in Africa. Just need to look at history and how it still operates today. I think the Ethiopian coffee farm and Addis Ababa token is a great idea with the sign deals but more importantly educating developers/students to use Cardano technology. If Cardano could and i’m sure they are pushing for more work case projects. They need to up the stakes to ensure no other player can move in to dominate or compete. They need to educate the political parties and not just the ruling party. Cardano would do good to make themselves acquainted with the different countries legislation and advise the governing party on how to implement changes that will allow for Cardano adoption. In South Africa Cardano could within two years help solve the land issue by advising a simple change in legislation (and i mean simple) that would enable to allow for adoption and the process of land ownership to become realistic.
Hi Knysna
Good to talk to someone from Africa on the Forum .
I totally agree, IOHK advise that they want a presence in all 54 countries, but at the current rate this will take some years.
The Ethiopian education program sounds like a resounding success, so well done for implementing that. But why stop there? Why not create several positions under the guidance of John O’Connor to cover North, South, East and West of the continent to roll out more education programs and to speak to more governments and business?
I’m sure there’re many other people working behind the scenes that most of us are not aware of, but to my knowledge, nothing like the above model is in place.
Africa is one of the main focal points for Cardano and with over a 1.3 billion people on the continent, my feeling is that if Cardano really want to reach any sort of significant figure then many more inroads will need to be created and better soon than later.
It would be good to hear what people think about this subject or if they have more knowledge about the Cardano presence and plans.
If this looks like it’s getting some feedback then I’ll create its own threads so some ideas can be shared.