It always took the slow road, but it made sure that it did the job correctly and responsibly.
A Decentralized Africa
This is why now, after the project announced its goals to decentralize Africa, I have great faith that it will succeed, no matter how long it takes.
But let me backtrack a little bit. Essentially, Africa has always been a continent that was great to visit, but not a place that most outsiders would choose to live at. Take Ethiopia as an example. Only 15% of its people have internet access; the country also sees a lot of civil unrest these days, where thousands were killed and millions forced to flee to neighboring countries.
Even those who did have the internet suffered an internet shutdown, and for all intents and purposes, the country was left in the dark. As such, it shows exactly how big the gap is between what modern technology can do and how easy it is to take it away.
Banking the Unbanked
Now, Cardano took it upon itself to bridge that gap and decentralize Africa, starting with Ethiopia, with the help of blockchain. I also think that this will be a good representation of how powerful blockchain can be. IOHK’s director of African Operations, John O’Connor, said it himself: “It’s a hard country, so if we make it there, we can make it anywhere.”
With that in mind, IOHK established a physical presence in the country’s capital, Addis Ababa, and it started working on its largest project yet, expecting it to go live around January next year.
The project’s core identity product is known as PRISM, and according to what is known, it is already prepared for launch. Other features are expected to follow in months to come. Through blockchain, Cardano primarily hopes to improve the quality of education, which is not only beneficial but necessary for the future generations of the country.
Do you think that Cardano’s endeavor will succeed?