• Thursday, March 28, 2024
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Africa led blockchain ecosystem, Bantu, expands across Africa

Africa led blockchain ecosystem, Bantu, expands across Africa

Bantu, an Africa-led blockchain ecosystem, is expanding across the African continent with the unveiling of its first brand influencers, signalling a landmark moment for the promotion of the blockchain ecosystem in the continent.

The Bantu Xpansion initiative, which was first officially launched in Ghana, on 15th January 2022, is an extension of the efforts put together by the Bantu Blockchain Foundation, to establish its presence across Africa, in a bid to impact the continent.

Initially launched in Lagos back in December 2020, Bantu accomplished a remarkable amount of milestones accentuated by three major community hangouts in Lagos, Abuja, and Port Harcourt in 2021.

This, the organisation attributed to the hard work of an all-star team of Africans. The Bantu blockchain ecosystem aggregates several services on the blockchain network, featuring easy to adopt tools like the ecosystem BantuPay wallet, a network dashboard, a blockchain explorer (an analytic search engine), a ‘laboratory’ for developers, a community forum, as well as a one-click digital token generator.

Blockchain foundation ambassadors are P-square, Yemi Alade, Grace Charis and Mr. Leo.

Speaking at the launch, Ernest Mbenkum, founder/CEO, Bantu Blockchain Foundation, said that the overall aim of the initiative is to pilot Africa’s economic evolution.

Read also: Global Wissen Consult to launch blockchain programme for varsity students in Nigeria

“This is the beginning of something incredible. My team members believed in the creative ideas and transformative perspectives that I had for a long time,” he said.

“After a period of building and establishing a community in Nigeria, we decided to kick off our 2022 expansion phase with Ghana. As you can imagine, Ghana was the first country to achieve colonial Independence in Africa.”

“When you look at our logo, the Adinkra symbol shaped like an X is a Ghanaian symbol meaning Independence. And freedom comes with responsibility. Underneath that symbol is the word Bantu. Bantu means people of humanity. So, we are empowering humanity,” he added.

He stated that in the era of the 4th industrial revolution, Africa can no longer afford to be left behind, saying the continent has grown exponentially.

“We have the largest and youngest demographic in the world, and we have the most technology-literate youths in our ecosystem.

“No other place was better than to start this in Nigeria, and since we had the launch in December 2020 we have grown in leaps and bounds.

“I believe very strongly that Africa is not going to be saved by politics or traditional economics; it is going to be empowered and saved by technology and entertainment. This technology revolution is being led by amazing people who have worked selflessly and tirelessly for over a year,” he said.

Blockchain is a technological innovation with a heavily decentralized format that allows one to store and manage data securely. It ensures the fidelity of data stored, without the need of a third party.

They are best known for their role in the cryptoverse, helping to maintain a secure and decentralized record of transactions.

With the rate of adoption growing, Africa can benefit from the use of blockchain technology to facilitate cross-border transactions, which will help reduce the high cost of remittances, enable access to financial services, ensure privacy, create jobs, unlock liquid from illiquid assets, improve the business environment and foster healthy competition, among others