- According to the African Governance Report(2019), Africa’s poor governmental system is the primary downfall of its economic growth.
- Implementing a blockchain-based solution can curb Eskom’s corrupt system from its roots.
- President Ramaphosa has issued an 18.65% increase in electricity bills as of April 1st.
At the end of Q1 2023, Africa experienced several gruelling misfortunes in all its corners. Protests and demonstrations have ravaged four iconic countries: Kenya, South Africa, Nigeria and Tunisia. Poor governing systems have caused citizens to retaliate against their governments due to the implementation of unjust or shady systems. These African protests are justified, and many wonder how governments will respond. Fortunately, with the steady rise of decentralized applications in Africa, blockchain-based solutions might aid governmental bodies.
To achieve this, a country must be ready to implement blockchain-based solutions to mitigate their already faulty governmental bodies. This article highlights how blockchain systems can address the problems plaguing these four powerhouses in Africa.
Cause of Dismay in Africa
Africa has struggled to attain the “developed” status, eventually placing it on even ground with other countries. Visionaries, political figureheads and innovators have strived to achieve this goal for years. When Web3 finally dawned on Africa, it caused a massive frenzy among innovators in Africa.
Various governments needed more convincing, but the consistent improvement of decentralized applications soon proved helpful in individual organizations and economic growth. Today blockchain-based solutions have led to further escalation to its adoption and have birth unicorn startups and even an entirely new industry, Africa’s fintech industry.
However, despite this technology’s clear advantages, Africa still needs to work on achieving its end goal and standing equal to its sister continent. Unfortunately, an even deeper evil outweighs the revolutionary benefits of decentralized applications; Africa’s poor governmental systems.
Poor governance gives rise to other vices.
Indeed, this plague has drained Africa of its potential, leading to the development of other vices such as corruption, nepotism, day-light robbery from politicians and many more. In some African countries, poor governmental systems date back to the very birth of their nation. For instance, Burkina Faso has the highest number of politically driven coups in the world, having nine coups and the first dating only six years after its independence.
Also, Read Decentralized Finance How it’s Shaping Africa.
According to the African Governance Report(2019), Africa’s poor governmental system is the primary downfall of its economic growth, its Achilles heel.
A lack of accountability, incompetency, and abandoning the rule of law is the fule for most governmental bodies causing utter damage to its citizens.
Corruption is a thriving vice among political parties. So much so that most individuals often envy the ability of politicians to merely “lose” funds, halting economic projects that would have significantly improved their development process. In Kenya, the unemployment rate is one of the few reasons the blockchain adoption rate in Africa is slow-paced.
It is a standard norm to “buy” your way into a good job. Sometimes, you must be related to someone or know someone in power to acquire a decent job. In addition, most African countries have significantly neglected their Human capital, a rich innovation resource.
Today unemployed citizens and innovators are usually the minds behind successful blockchain-based solutions. For instant BitSika’s CEO. Atsu Davoh never acquired a full-time job for the government. Thus he spent his time learning the dynamic of decentralized applications, which later led to the development of BitSika, one of Africa; ‘s prominent crypto companies.
The people grew tired.
At the end of Q1 2023, the people grew tired of Africa’s poor governing systems and took a stand. This mutual feeling rippled through all four corners of the continent, causing various African protests in four ideal countries. Here is a look at what caused such revolts.
South Africa Demonstrations
South Africa’s left opposition launched strikes and rallies on March 19th to force out Preient Cryil Ramaphose. This comes in light of the numerous economic travesties the country has faced. Thousands of protesters gathered at the square in the capital Pretoria. They marched to the Union Buildings, the seat of government, where their rallies collided with unforgiving police officers and troops.
The past few months have seen consistent power cuts have depleted the country’s economic growth. According to Statista, the nation is losing at least $235 million in economic activities due to these outages. This has directly affected their overall GDP causing it to reduce by 1.3%. Remember that this directly affects the various blockchain-based solution the government is trying to implement.
Unfortunately, with the increased electrical process, decentralized applications will also be forced to increase their mounts to cover the cost and ensure no losses occur. In an attempt to cover up for Eskom’s failure, South African and blockchain-based solutions in SA are suffering the consequences.
Kenya Demonstrations
Since the new government took power, Kenya’s cost of living has significantly increased. Kenya’s inflation rose to 9.2% from 9.0% in January 2023. According to the Consumer Price Index report from KNBS, a significant portion of the high inflation was caused by the cost of food.
According to KNBS, households currently pay 13.3% more to put food on the table than last year. In addition, the Central Bank of Kenya has also increased t average loan rate from 12.22% to 12.67%. This is the first tie the CBK has raised its rates in nearly seven years.
The tax increase has caused a domino effect causing other industries and utilities to increase prices. Blockhain-based solutions are not exempt from this tax spread. The government is now eyeing decentralized applications and crypto traders as Ruto announced the government’s intention to impose a tax on such parties. Raila Odinga, leader of the opposition party, did not take this lightly and rallied citizens in a demonstration. They sought to address the poor governing systems that were hellbent on “draining” them dry.
Also, Read Blockchain in the Energy Industry, transforming the globe directly.
Nigerian Demonstrations
On March 6th 2023, Nigera’s People’s Democratic Party Candidate rallied his fellow supporter and stormed the Independent Nation Electoral Commission in Abuja. The Nigerian demonstration soon turned sour as protesters became violent and demanded a recount to redetermine the new president of Nigeria. According to reports, the indigenous Yoruba people protested against the non-Ingedinous people they accused of trying to usurp the state.
Unfortunately, this had a backlash effect on the blockchain-based solution. Nigerians are sceptical in fear that the country’s poor governing systems are trying to turn the decentralized application into a means of control.
Tunisia Demonstrations
Tunisia faces a similar issue as two rival opposition groups rally together to protest against President Kais Saied. According to reporters, the Tunisia demonstrations were an attempt to denounce his move to consolidate political power as public anger grew over fuel and food shortages.
Thousands supported the government, accusing Said of economic mismanagement and an anti-democratic coup.
Unfortunately, the facts confirm the allegations of the Tunisia demonstration as the government transitioned from obstructive to repressive within 2023. Tunisia has been engulfed in chaos since July 2021 as President Kais Saied unliterally suspended parliament and dissolved the government.
In addition, Tunisia is known for its adverse take on implementing Blockchain in governmental bodies since it has a firm take on cryptocurrency.
Its poor governing systems have led to the slow implementation of blockchain-based solutions that guarantee economic growth for the northern country. However, due to the poor conditions, its recent CBDC is significantly failing as citizens are more concerned over their degrading lifestyle than blockchain advancements. As a result, these African protests have struck a wave of attention from all over the world.
Blockchain-based solutions for the African protest
It is a known fact that implementing Blockchain in governmental bodies is one of the few technological advancements most countries hope for. Implementing decentralized applications has significantly improved several industries doubling or tripling their profits in under a year.
The direct application of blockchain technology paved the way for Africa’s fastest-growing financial industry, the Fintech Industry. When implemented efficiently, these blockchain-based solutions can address some of the issues mentioned earlier. Here is a look at how properly implementing Blockchain in Governmental bodies can cater to the demands of African protesters.
Implementing Blockchain in South Africa’s energy sector to curb power shortages
Implementing a blockchain-based solution can curb Eskom’s corrupt system from its roots but effectively close off all financial “loopholes” exploited. Over the years, blockchain developers have discovered that decentralized applications can quickly increase the performance of several energy projects.
Instead of increasing the cost of electricity SA’s government can implement decentralized microgrids. They are small-sized energy stations that provide electricity to a specific community. SA’s government can design these stations to operate independently from Eskom’s primary grid, ensuring easier management and maintenance.
Implementing a blockchain-based voting system in Nigeria and Tunisia
In Africa, election irregularities occur more often than one might think. As such, the African protest in Nigeria is due to the series of previous events. Implementing a blockchain-based voting system will prevent any incidents of gerrymandering, manipulated ballot boxes and voters disappearing from registries.
The immutable nature of decentralized applications ensures that no single party can tamper or change details within the voting press without informing all other parties. Implementing a Web2 voting system may provide a similar solution, but today, hacking into Web2 is far more accessible than blockchain technology. Thus this blockchain-based solution will quickly offer security and efficiency.
In addition, implementing such a system gives power back to the people. It is not far-fetched to claim that President Kai Saied wishes to implement a dictatorship in Tunisia. If the North African country implements a decentralized voting system, it can prevent such an occurrence.
Also, Read Blockchain technology curbing the faulty tax system of Africa.
In addition, further implementation of Blockchain in governmental bodies can provide other benefits besides an incorruptible, pseudonymized and verifiable voting system. It can also offer an adequate tally system where indiviudals can participate in any political change within the country. Such a blockchain-based solution gives a voice to users.
Implementing a blockchain-tax system for Kenya
In truth, one of the main reasons for the African protest in Kenya is incompetency. Its poor governing systems are prone to embezzling and wasting tax payments. When the government imposes a sudden tax increase with no vivid improvement, it is bound to rough up some feathers.
Furthermore, it is common in Kenya to find those who evade paying taxes, and as a result, it strains its government, causing it to take such drastic measures. Implementing such a blockchain-based solution will establish automation which ensures that each individual pays their tax. Reducing the number of third parties, guaranteeing each individual pays their tax, and providing transparency while easing such African protests is made more accessible.
Conclusion
Web3 has provided numerous technological wonders that simplify ordinary citizens’ daily lives. Blockchain in governmental bodies is one way of ensuring rapid economic growth while still achieving Web3’s ultimate goal of redefining the internet.
