Ghana-based consulting firm NikGroup, International LTD is pressuring the country’s government for further adoption of blockchain technology. It contends that this is the only way to break with the country’s vicious cycle of corruption.
“Cases of corruption and people amassing wealth for themselves both in the public and public sector of most countries particularly Africa continue to persist,” says NikGroup CEO Nick Owusu. “Perpetrators easily escape punishment due to ineffective mechanisms and systems to trace them. Africa and for that matter, Ghana has had to contend with the loss of state funds through the manipulation of documents, payroll fraud, fraudulent licensing, illegal transactions, abuse of contracts and office among others.”
Owusu is scheduled as a speaker at the Ghana Blockchain Summit on 25th October in the country’s capital Accra. He is expected to push for blockchain adoption to fight corruption.
Ghana adopts blockchain for land registry
In May, the government partnered with Ghanian firm Bitland to implement a blockchain system to drastically reduce land fraud, a crime in which officials are involved.
Nearly 80% of land in Ghana is not registered which has lead to many land disputes. The lack of documents to prove ownership barred landowners from bank loans and land development.
Other African countries are also turning to the open ledger technology to introduce systems to their governments to increase transparency and efficiency while drastically reducing corruption.
Blockchain implementation in Africa
Kenya President Uhuru Kenyatta launched a blockchain and artificial intelligence team tasked with creating a 15-year roadmap towards the reduction of political corruption.
Mauritius has developed a Regulatory Sandbox License that allows entrepreneurs to enter the country to build blockchain solutions for the government under the supervision of the nation’s Board of Investment.
Rwanda also turned to blockchain for a land registry in partnership with Switzerland-based cybersecurity and IoT solutions firm WiseKey.
In Sierra Leone, Swiss firm blockchain startup Agora tested blockchain in the March 2018 general elections to determine whether the technology contributes to transparency and ensure fair count of electoral votes. The results confirmed that blockchain does reduce electoral issues, making voting more transparent and trustworthy.
A South African entrepreneur designed a blockchain-based solution dubbed Funds Aid to make the transfer of donations to people more transparent.
London-based FinTech firm Humanic launched a blockchain-powered application for the unbanked. The app is now available across five African countries. The platform was designed to enable even low-end-mobile devices access to banking services.
Uganda recently announced that the government is preparing to use blockchain to provide seamless public services to citizens.
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