Sandton, South Africa, is an affluent municipality that serves as home to more than 200,000 people. Known for its financial activities and attractive tourist sites like the ‘Nelson Mandela Square,’ it holds the influential promise of Johannesburg as it bears the name ‘Africa’s Richest Square Mile.’ It is from this city of influence without borders that one of the continent’s leading blockchain evangelists, Mr. Shadrack Kubyane, emerges.
Born at the intersection of 3 regions within South Africa, otherwise known as Provinces, Kubyane is a diplomat actively championing the cause for blockchain adoption in Africa. With his last corporate job at Deloitte, a brief look into his background reveals his inclination towards business technology and development when he Co-Founded a management consulting firm with a specialty focus on market entry, growth, and scaling businesses, i.e., taking new products onto the market and business expansions. It is one of those flagship projects breakthroughs that led to the founding of Coronet Blockchain, a venture he operates at a continental level with his wife by his side when they scaled an informal business from 500 USD to 2 million USD in 36 months, leading to more brands requiring same success at scale. The secret behind the scale is the use of blockchain, which forms a core structure in the model operated by the organization.
Relatively new in Africa, blockchain is yet to scratch its potential when it comes to being understood, even more as it relates to its employment in activities that define institutions and secure operations around the globe. Loosely, cryptocurrency stands tall in the understanding of people who are newly introduced to the blockchain as it represents a part of what is offered by the technology, but it goes way beyond that. According to Euromoney, to simplify what blockchain means, it represents a system of recording information in a way that makes it difficult or impossible to change, hack, or cheat the system. Essentially, a blockchain is a digital ledger of transactions that is duplicated and distributed across the entire network of computer systems on the blockchain. It provides a system where each block in the chain contains several transactions. Every time a new transaction occurs on the blockchain, a record of that transaction is added to every participant’s ledger. This allows for efficient tracking of sales, thereby enhancing trust in both record keeping and financial transactions. This understanding is what organizations like Kubyane’s operate on.
Coronet Blockchain as a venture hinges its operation around building a B2B2C Marketplace, similar to ARYZE Go-to-market strategy. The company provides blockchain vetted commodities such as human hair extensions, hair care products & salon equipment to African salons, distributors & retailers from ethical global manufacturers at lower sourcing costs. Using the IBM Blockchain to enable its operations, a key advantage of the employment of this technology for Coronet is that it allows the organization to securely track commodities from Source to Customer, as demonstrated on the venture’s boilerplate: 100% human hair requires 100% secure tracking.
Significantly rising to a status of recognition, blockchain in Africa has seen early organization in the hands of remarkable thinkers across the continent who create ventures to solve emerging problems that come with the existence of a tech-driven world. Chris Cleverly, the CEO of Kamari, in an article on Medium, lists out 10 existing blockchain companies on the continent, including Wala, Tari, Bitpesa, Bitland, Tracr, Sureremit, Chamapesa, NairaEx, Agrikore, and Sun Exchange. All these blockchain companies render unique services, defining the possibilities that come with adopting the technology. The time for increased sensitization of blockchain technology reveals itself in the present with the continuing growth and development of Africa, especially considering the rise of Fintech and the revolution coming along in carrying out transactions on the continent.
With a growing population of 1.2 billion people crested on the back of the youngest population in the globe, blockchain opportunities in Africa are set to expand continually. This presents an avenue to invest and remarkably join in an anticipated revolution. There is also a need to integrate the existing population into blockchain activities through education and practical engagements beyond the idea of cryptocurrency.