The Federal Government has approved the implementation of the National Blockchain Policy for Nigeria.
This was revealed by the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, during the Federal Executive Council meeting held at the state house in Abuja.
Blockchain is a decentralized system of recording information in a way that makes it difficult or impossible to change, hack, or cheat the system.
Such records cannot be altered retroactively without the alteration of subsequent blocks and the consensus of the network.
In a statement signed by the Senior Technical Assistant, Research and Development to the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Femi Adeluyi, the minister disclosed that the activities of the policy would be coordinated by the National Information Technology Development Agency, under the supervision of the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy.
The National Blockchain Policy for Nigeria aligns with the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy which was unveiled and launched by the President, Muhammadu Buhari on November 28, 2019.
The policy was developed by the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, in line with the 7th Pillar of the NDEPS, which focuses on Digital Society and Emerging Technologies.
According to a new report by MarketsandMarkets the global Blockchain Market size is projected to grow from USD 7.4 billion in 2022 to USD 94.0 billion by 2027 and could boost the global economy with $1.76 trillion by 2030.
The Minister explained that “Blockchain Technology has the potential to revolutionise many industries, from finance and healthcare to transportation and supply chain management.
Blockchain Technology makes transactions more transparent, trustworthy, and efficient and it can result in considerable cost savings and better user experiences. Furthermore, Blockchain Technology can boost innovation, improve public services, create job opportunities, and drive economic growth.
He gave the assurance that the vision of the Policy is to create a Blockchain-powered economy that supports secure transactions, data sharing, and value exchange between people, businesses, and Government, thereby enhancing innovation, trust, growth, and prosperity for all. The implementation of the National Blockchain Policy will have a positive effect on both the public and private sectors of the country.
According to Patami, “These benefits have inspired governments around the world to explore ways to leverage this important technology.
With the approval of the National Blockchain Policy, Nigeria joins the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Estonia, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, Denmark, and other leading technology countries in adopting Blockchain Technology at the national level.”
The Federal Executive Council further directed relevant regulatory bodies to develop regulatory instruments for the deployment of Blockchain Technology across various sectors of the economy.
These regulatory agencies include NITDA, the Central Bank of Nigeria, the National Universities Commission, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Nigerian Communications Commission, among others.
The FEC also urged all other Federal and State Government institutions, as well as the private sector to leverage Blockchain Technologies in education, health, security, agriculture, and finance, among many other sectors in view of the fact that deploying these applications will further support the implementation of the NDEPS for a digital Nigeria.
According to the Director General of NITDA,Kashifu Inuwa , developing nations like Nigeria stand a chance to benefit from the 1.76 trillion USD market if they can position themselves to adopt and leverage Blockchain technologies.
He said the Nigerian government is already exploring ways and positioning itself in this line. “The government has been doing it. We have developed the blockchain adoption strategies.”
He revealed that the Blockchain adoption strategies have four initiatives which are; firstly, to establish consortia that will build the ecosystem.
“And we are here to build that ecosystem and community. And secondly, to strengthen the regulatory instruments and have a legal framework.
“Now we have a Nigeria Startup Act 2022, which will provide legal instruments for all emerging technologies, including blockchain.”
Inuwa noted that the third initiative is to incentivise the ecosystem which would encourage the building of use cases using blockchain adding that the Start-Up Act would achieve that as well.
He added that the fourth is to build a sandbox “so, all this government is doing to make Nigeria attractive to blockchain investment.
The Director General believes that “with blockchain, Nigeria can solve many challenges confronting us”. We have identified four key areas in which we think blockchain can help Nigeria solve many problems. There are so many challenges and real-life problems that need urgent solutions”, he said.
Dominica Nwabufo
