As the novel coronavirus (COVID 19) continues to expand across the various countries of the world, front liners are yet to get a breakthrough vaccine to put an end to the crisis caused by the virus.
While the world struggles with the health crisis, the virus continues to infect people regardless of their societal status, and the poor being the most affected
Together with the health impact, there is also a critical socio-economic, commercial and business impact globally. Indeed the virus has no borders.
The Impacts of Covid19 and Charity Needs in Nigeria
Nigeria the most populous country in Africa recorded its first case of the novel coronavirus on February 28, 2020, ranking her among the first nations in Sub-Saharan Africa to identify with the COVID 19 Virus.
The disruptions caused by the pandemic are seen in businesses, close down of shopping complex, office staffs overseeing the office affairs from home, reduction in travel revenues due to the lockdown and collapse in the oil price which accounts for the bulk of Nigerians Government revenue.
The federal government has awakened to a new socio-economic reality, and now more than ever are confronted with the challenge of simultaneously trying to combat the public health crisis of the pandemic while trying to save a failing economy.
In 2019, Nigeria outranked India in hierarchy in terms of several citizens living in abject poverty in the world. With a recession looming according to new World Bank report, the poverty impact of the virus will further spread, if proper measures are not taken and this statement by the food and agricultural organization of the United Nations further validates the need for the nation to take action. “We risk a looming food crisis unless measures are taken fast to protect the most vulnerable, keep global food supply chains alive and mitigate the pandemic’s impacts across the food system” – FAO.org.
Owning to this, rich countries and people have reacted by giving cash and materials to limit the further spread of the virus.
Earlier this year, a billionaire Jack Ma followed through on his pledge by conveying a variety of materials to every nation on the African map, Nigeria inclusive.
Jack Dorsey, another billionaire, plans to give near 33% of his property, worth just about a billion dollars, to battle Covid-19.
How effective is the Current COVID 9 Monitoring system in Nigeria?
Using data from the World Health Organization 2017 survey, Nigeria’s average score on preparedness to tackle public health risks was averagely low. With a low performance characterized by an average score of just 1.5 across the 20 pointers in this category, shows that Nigeria is not prepared to respond to the current COVID-19 pandemic.
The evident is mostly apparent from the low testing rates for COVID-19 in the country, shortage of test kits, human resources, and test laboratories amongst others.
In addition to the inefficiency of the current COVID 19 tracking system, there have been reports of improper management of donated funds and materials. Unfortunately, with the current state of the country’s economy, such reports will leave doubts in the hearts of donors.
The accounts of mismanagement or improper use of donated resources for selfish and political reasons have shown that the use of technologies, for example, the blockchain will ensure the elimination of intermediaries in the conveying of the donations to the intended beneficiaries.
Algorand the Way Forward
Despite the shadows cast by the pandemic, Algorand (ALGO), a digital proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchain Network believes that the current covid-19 crisis presents a significant opportunity for the Nigerian government to perform a structural reforming and put in policies that encourages a culture of transparency.
The need to abandon traditional and centralized methods for decentralized methods of decision making is more evident than ever. In the wake of the pandemic, digital services have shown importance in the Post COVID world, and this has further exposed the needs for technological advancements in Nigeria.
Therefore embracing Algorand blockchain is essential in curbing cases of corrupt officials redirecting charity funds and donations to their pockets.
How Algorand Blockchain can Monitor Covid19 and Aid Charity Donation in Nigeria
Algorand blockchain recently released an app called the “IReportCovid” survey app which is aimed to collate information centered around coronavirus and its updates to a database accessible globally.
Also, donating charity funds as digital currencies through decentralized blockchain would be more effective in promoting transparency. There will be better accountability of funds as individuals in the community will have access to contribute data.
In conclusion, relieving the impacts of the COVID-19 crisis is essential for preventing poverty increase in Nigeria, and that can be achieved by using a proper monitoring system to track data. And as the country struggles for adequate medical equipment, donors mustn’t give up by using more transparent means such as the Algorand blockchain.
About Algorand
The Algorand blockchain is a secure decentralized permissionless pure proof of stake open-source blockchain with the main purpose of developing concepts and reasonable ideas into usable products. It is backed by the algorand foundation; a group of people having past work experience in different parastatals with the vision of achieving a borderless economy through a permissionless blockchain.
Kindly check out the following links to learn more about the Algorand ecosystem;
https://algorand.foundation/
https://www.algorand.com/
https://twitter.com/AlgoFoundation
https://www.facebook.com/AlgorandFoundation/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/algorandfoundation/
https://t.me/AlgorandFoundation
https://medium.com/algorand-foundation
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