5 Potential Applications of NFTs in Africa
Art lovers in Africa are enjoying the NFT craze in the continent, well until the hype dies down. There is no denying that this is a welcome intrusion because of the massive benefits it has brought for some African Artists. Evidently, artists like Allela, Osinachi, and Norman Catherine have made ungodly amounts of money owing to the incorporation of NFTs into their trade. Other African artists have seen what NFTs promise to give in the future and the current generation strongly focuses on this digital path. However, the intrusion of NFTs in the digital space does not only promise to favor the Art field. So what else will NFTs do in the future for Africa? Technology is applicable in many areas of our lives, and surely NFTs must serve more than the interests of artists. Here are 5 potential applications of NFTs in Africa.
Related: Africans Reaping from NFTs
What are NFTs? A Reminder
You probably have a scope of what NFTs are, but for perspective let’s get a reminder. Currently, a good population of Africans with a bit of blockchain understanding associate NFTs with overpriced pieces of digital art. And I wouldn’t judge them for thinking this way — because a layperson wonders why a pixel image would clear millions of dollars. But remember art has always been driven by hype and speculation even before NFTs got traction, so NFTs are not mere digital pieces of art.
NFTs are cryptographically secured tokens with their history of ownership and current owners stored in the blockchain. Think of them like plane tickets. To the eye, they may seem identical, but each ticket has different information, from the name of the owner, the seat number, to the destination. These digital items can also be bought and sold through the blockchain.
Related: Introducing NFTs: A powerful ally for African creators
Use cases in Africa
First things first, a majority of people embracing the NFT market today are doing it purely out of speculation. The craze will die down before NFTs find a balance in Africa. This means Africans should look at other possible application areas of NFTs, rather than hoping to flip their digital pieces of art for fortunes comparable to what is found in trust fund accounts. NFTs have the following prospects in Africa:
- A mechanism for Credible Elections
Corruption ails Africa to the core, and it often starts with election malpractice. It would be difficult to rid Africa of election malpractice with the snap of a finger. Factors including the forms of historical systems practiced by a society, social stratification, class structure, and religious differences contribute to election malpractice in the continent¹. These systems lead to rigged elections, which ultimately culminate in election violence, leading to the loss of lives in Africa². You see, these are not systems that you simply manage in an instance, but then again, you cannot underestimate the power of technology, especially Web3 and the blockchain.
Related: Web 3.0: The Next Internet Revolution
Blockchain technology is a viable solution for electoral malpractices in Africa. A major issue with African elections is duplicate votes, which count in with other votes. This is how most politicians rig their way to power. The incorporation of NFTs in the electoral process means each voter gets a unique identity in the voting system, therefore their vote only counts once. This will reduce electoral fraud and promote integrity in the election process.
2. Avenue for Telemedicine
Fun fact: Did you know, the father of medicine, Imhotep, arose from ancient Egypt? And did you know the first known mention of the practice of medicine is from the Old Kingdom of Ancient Egypt, dating back to about 2600 BC³? Sadly, the practice is now more refined outside its home continent. There is however a chance to reclaim this lost glory. This should start with the fact that Africa urgently needs telemedicine.
Telemedicine is remote health consultation between patients and health practitioners. Africa has a great demand for health workers, but shockingly, the health industry is not in any way attractive⁴. From poor pay and unemployment to underdeveloped health infrastructure, Africa does not promise to give health workers anything good.
Telemedicine could however encourage African doctors and nurses. NFTs could be incorporated into telemedicine, where only certified medical personnel would be in a country’s public register. NFTs will give medical practitioners unique digital identities, which the public will use to verify their authenticity. Medical documents such as birth certificates could be protected by NFTs to prevent identity theft. The real question however remains, is Africa telemedicine ready?
3. All in One Identification Cards
With the unprecedented levels of corruption in Africa, an alien can access an African ID as easily as you would take candy from a baby. But do you know NFTs could be your next ID? No, scratch that, NFTs will probably serve more purpose than what your ID does. A single NFT will tokenize all your identity data that would not be captured in your usual ID.
Web2 disrupted our privacy and you are the product. There have been concerns about privacy regulations, ranging from businesses to the government. Our privacy is vulnerable and the starting point is our IDs⁵. Through the incorporation of NFTs, the African government can guarantee the privacy of their citizen’s identities. This will also prevent identity theft. The identity data business is booming in the black market because passports and IDs can easily be accessed. This leads to other compounding consequences such as terrorism. It can all be prevented by simply replacing IDs with NFTs.
4. Logistics and Supply Chain
The other potential application of NFTs in Africa includes logistics and supply chain management. The traceability aspect of NFTs makes them ideal to be used in the logistics field. NFTs will secure the transfer of information through the various stages in procurement. This will limit corruption in African governments because accountability will be paramount in this process.
5. Decentralized Marketplace for African Creators
NFTs will also provide a decentralized marketplace for African creators. African creators are not appreciated enough, but NFTs will provide a platform where their efforts will adequately be appreciated, especially by eliminating the middleman.
Recap
NFTs may be the revolutionary turning point of operations in Africa. The six potential application areas of NFTs include:
1. A mechanism for Credible Elections
2. Avenue for Telemedicine
3. All in One Identification Cards
4. Logistics and Supply Chain
5. Decentralized Marketplace for African Creators
Take Away
I know you might be thinking that this sounds like a pipe dream. But hey, there are already experiments in place to prove more functionality features of NFTs. And who knew Jack Dorsey’s first-ever tweet would sell for $2.9 million as a non-fungible token? Now, what makes you think the above cannot be achieved with NFTs and blockchain technology? Brace yourself for this incoming goodness.
References
[2]. Violence in African Elections. (ReliefWeb, Nov 2018).
[4]. AFRICA IS DUE FOR A TELEMEDICINE BOOM, BUT IS IT READY? (Ventures, November 2021).
[5]. Your next ID will be an NFT. (LinkedIn, September 2021).
*Editor’s note
Sankore 2.0 is an Africa-focused community integrating the NEAR blockchain with projects and solutions conceived and built by local developers in Kenya. As noted in the content of this blog, Sankore 2.0 seeks to promote the development of Web3 products in Nairobi — for Kenya and for Africa as a whole
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