Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority integrates blockchain

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The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has deployed blockchain technology to boost efficiency, reduce flight disruptions and enhance transparency.

At a recent event, NCAA Public Affairs Director Michael Achimugu revealed that the Authority has been on a digitalization drive. Blockchain has emerged as one of the transformative technologies that can improve Nigeria’s aviation sector, which directly contributed $1.7 billion to the country’s GDP and employed over 240,000 people last year.

Achimugu stated the blockchain portal allows “comfort to stranded or dissatisfied passengers” and “factors in the interest of the airlines.” “It is a four-way marriage between technology, insurance, operators, and regulator,” he said, as reported by local media outlets.

NCAA had called local tech firms to submit proposals for the best technology solutions to transform the country’s aviation sector. One firm whose solution was built on blockchain emerged victorious, demonstrating how the technology could boost transparency and accountability without sacrificing privacy and security.

Achimugu noted that while blockchain is a novelty in Nigeria, it is being used to solve major challenges in other parts of the world.

“We want to build something that is suitable to our peculiar situation. Also, because we seek a holistic approach to resolving consumer protection, data gathering, passenger identification, and security issues, this project is being expanded to cover more than just additional insurance,” Achimugu said.

Blockchain technology will be used to provide real-time luggage tracking and streamline identity verification. Its immutability will also help secure critical data like ticketing information and flight schedules, while its public ledger will transparently provide data to the public.

NCAA is the latest body in Nigeria to explore blockchain technology to enhance efficiency, cut costs, and promote accountability. In Lagos, for instance, the state government is now using blockchain to tackle land fraud.

Government support has been vital to this adoption. Domineum co-founder Geoffrey Weli-Wosu told CoinGeek that the current and previous administrations have greatly supported his and other blockchain startups. This support has been offered through partnerships, grants, awareness campaigns, hackathons, and industry events, such as the Digital Nigeria International Conference, where BSV innovators, led by Centbee’s Lorien Gamaroff, took to the stage to discuss how Bitcoin can transform the West African nation.

This enthusiasm has spread to the private sector. Earlier this year, the School of Politics, Policy, and Governance (SPPG) unveiled a new certificate system that relies on blockchain for verification. Nigeria has long suffered from fake certificates, which has led to the country no longer recognizing degrees issued in Kenya, Uganda, Benin, and Togo due to high fraud rates. The certificate authentication system was developed in partnership with BSV blockchain data firm VX Technologies.

Any blockchain Nigeria builds on must be massively scalable. After all, Nigeria is Africa’s most populous country and sixth globally, with a population of 230 million. Only Bitcoin SV can meet this demand. The enterprise network has been the world leader in scalability for years. Now, with the Teranode upgrade, BSV will handle over a million transactions per second, making it the only blockchain that can handle enterprise needs while keeping fees negligible.

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