Crypto in Africa: adoption in medical, education, trading industries

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In the last couple of weeks, there has been a call for crypto education across the African cryptocurrency markets. Some startups have taken the initiatives, and hopefully, the rest will follow soon. While this is happening, others have wanted to use this new technology to help curb counterfeit medicine in Africa.

Zimbabwe crypto school

SUNFund, a local incubator, is planning to launch a crypto school in Harare, Zimbabwe. The announcement was made through local news outlet TECHZim.

Reportedly, the school had started the enrollment and was expected to begin their classes on March 25, 2019. SUNFund Africa formed a partnership with City Study Centre to launch the crypto-school. The company stated that the school is aimed at creating a new employment avenue for Zimbabwe and “the next generation through this revolutionary technology.”

SUNFund explained:

“According to international cryptocurrency marketplace, Paxful, African cryptocurrency users are more likely to be male, under 30 years old, a graduate or studying toward a tertiary qualification. African consumers account for over R500 million transactions per month on the platform. This is setting the pulse for cryptocurrency and showing that the market is shifting with technology and SUNFund has dug its anchor in this change, to reinvent finance. The ‘Generation Z’ market demographics are tapping into crypto and see this as their future of banking.”

For the first phase, the startup plans to have 35 students for the program. While this is not the first crypto related school, SUNFund has promised graduates a job at the company.

Since the ban on cryptocurrency in Zimbabwe, the crypto community has faced some merger sets backs. However, the new school might be the long-awaited change for the community.

IBM blockchain technology to weed out fake drugs

IBM announced that work is underway to create a blockchain system that will eradicate counterfeit medications.

Through its Lab in Haifa, IBM is creating a blockchain network that will track and restrict the constant flow of counterfeit medication across Africa.

The blockchain network will enable all participants to track and authenticate the provenance of all medicine. It will have a simple mobile interface that will allow participants to validate all transactions on the shared ledger.

Getting medication to the patient is a long, tedious process that involves moving through many players before getting to their destination. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), over $200 billion is traded through the global counterfeit drug market. In their report, Africa contributes to 30 percent of this number. WHO explained that fake medications had caused about 100,000 deaths in the continent

The idea to harness the power of blockchain in stopping counterfeit drugs is one shared by many governments. In February 2019 FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb recommended using blockchain tech for improving existing pharmaceutical supply chains.

South Africa exchange launches an online market place

A Hybrid Stock Exchange (HYBSE) platform belonging to a South Africa bade crypto exchange went live last week according to local reporters.

The platform, which is part of the Data Interchange Module (DIM), launched its live platform on March 20, 2019, for equity trading. Reportedly, the HYBSE is the online marketplace for global issuers and users that give tradable cryptonised equity. Its goals are described as, “aimed at consolidating broker, custodian escrows, clearing houses and settlements activities. It assumes the role of central equity custody and functions as a central counterparty, through which financial transactions between different parties are handled and cleared on a global scale.”

The platform was able to go live after the company received a clearing agent license from the Kingdom of Lesotho. According to DIM, getting the licensing has helped to introduce a global financial transaction solution based on banking technologies and distributed ledger technology (DLT).