The Rwandan-based Africa Blockchain Institute is redefining the potential of blockchain education by offering the highest-quality and stackable learning experiences.
The Pan-African Institute was established to advance the adoption, advancement, and application of blockchain technology while educating experts, business owners, government regulators, and the general public about this cutting-edge technology.
Kayode Babarinde, the Executive Director at Africa Blockchain Institute recently had a conversation with Blockbuild, a media platform that focuses on blockchain technology in Africa. In his chat, he focused on how Africa Blockchain Institute is deploying blockchain technology to drive the African continent for the future of work and the opportunities blockchain technology presents for Africa.
According to Babarinde, the Blockchain Institute aims to champion digital transformation in Africa using blockchain technology.
He said, “We believe in the potential of blockchain technology to help solve Africa’s problems and we are committed to driving that agenda. We do this through research, training, hackathons, and the deployment of enterprise blockchain solutions.”
The institute recently set up a blockchain hackathon to accentuate its mission. Their inspiration for the blockchain hackathon is the belief that transformation cannot be achieved if the youth are not included and well equipped.
He said, “Our inspiration for the campus blockchain hackathon is the belief that the transformation we seek cannot be achieved if the youth we rely on are not even equipped with the knowledge to effect it.”
“Therefore, this hackathon aims to improve the problem-solving skills of young Africans using blockchain technology as the main focus. We believe that preaching this blockchain gospel to these young ones gives us a better chance of grooming them into the changemakers we need in the continent,” he added.
The blockchain advocate also talked about how blockchain can get domesticated for adoption in the African market.
He emphasized that the first way is through regulation.
“If we are to encourage those in this space to bring up solutions for the problems we need using blockchain technology, we need to create a safe regulatory haven for them. Innovation would be stifled in a harsh regulatory environment,” he said.
Furthermore, creating awareness about blockchain technology while emphasizing how beneficial it is to the African community and finding ways of merging it with traditional methods and practices are also some of the other ways of increasing its adoption in the African market, according to Babarinde.
Babarinde also highlighted that although the adoption rate is still low, there are numerous youths in Africa using blockchain to tackle different challenges which shows that Africans are eager to learn about the technology.
Over the years, Babarinde has acquired expertise in Blockchain Technology, Digital Transformation Policy, and Business Management. He is a Professional member of the Government Blockchain Association (USA) and also the Lead Partner of KAYBABS Consult, a leading technology firm with innovative strategies for market entries in domesticating the adoption of Blockchain Technology in Africa.