The Nigerian Federal Government has partnered with Developing African Group (DAG) – a regional software development company – on a three-year exclusive IPR (intellectual property right) deal to launch a national wallet for Nigeria.
This is good news because it might signal the West African country’s gradual itch towards finally embracing blockchain technology after seasons of harsh policies.
Algorand blockchain which became the official blockchain of FIFA earlier this month, took to its Twitter page to announce the development.
Details of the partnership
Under the partnership, Developing African Group (DAG) will be granted the exclusive license to develop a platform where Nigerian citizens can upload and trade their intellectual properties in exchange for royalty rights or proceeds.
Royalties and proceeds from the transactions will be received in users’ wallets on the platform created by Developing African Group. Some of the content that can be commercialized on the platform include copyrights and trademarks of songs, videos, lyrics, shows, podcasts, and other forms of streamable content.
With the government’s approval, DAG has chosen Koibanx – a leading Latin American asset tokenisation and Blockchain financial infrastructure company as the tokenization and payments engine to be utilized in the country. Popular network – Algorand Blockchain will be the protocol on which the platform will be built.
Koibanx will be in charge of implementing the wallet, the token booth for the IP being sold and a stable token (equivalent to the Naira) to pay the creators and all tokens will be launched on top of the Algorand Blockchain.
Ben Oguntala, CEO of Developing Africa Group, while commenting on the adoption of Algorand, said:
“Algorand’s protocol not only provides the performance, scalability, security, and functionality required to implement such a large scale project but is also environment-friendly which is important for the Government and has a huge philosophical match with the `creators economy industry´ we’re targeting here.”
Leo Elduayen, Koibanx´s CEO, also said about the project:
“What the Developing Africa Group has achieved is truly amazing. The Nigerian IPR Wallet is probably the largest crypto project world-wide. When we took El Salvador´s challenge, we impacted the lives of millions of citizens. After this experience we embarked on the Colombian government platform handling tens of millions…I believe this initiative could change the life of +50M people easily. Since we launched Koibanx back in 2015 we were convinced Blockchain tech and cryptocurrencies were the foundational building blocks for economic development in emerging markets, being able to have an active part in how is happening is definitely a privilege.”
Notably, this is not the first time Koibanx and Algorand will be partnering on an initiative. The duo has worked on several initiatives, including in the private and public sectors across Latin America.
What this means for Nigerians
The initiative marks another milestone in the adoption of cryptocurrencies globally. The development follows the Securities and Exchange Commission’s release of new regulations to regulate Crypto Assets listing and trading on the market.
This is a pointer to the fact that Nigerian authorities, that are known for harsh policies and regulations are now having a change of mind regarding cryptocurrencies.
Apart from the fact that the government is finding a middle ground to embrace emerging technology, it is also interesting that the country is determined to help content creators monetize their arts and craft.
According to reports from 2021, the Nigerian entertainment sector employs around a million people and creates over $8 billion in revenue for the economy. By 2023, the business is expected to reach $10.8 billion in revenue, accounting for 1.4 per cent of GDP.
Going by some projections, Nigeria’s media and entertainment business have the potential to be one of the country’s most valuable exports. With an annual growth rate of 8.6% forecast, it is one of the world’s fastest-growing creative industries.
The newly-launched initiative is the perfect avenue to harness those creative talents and resources using 21st-century technology.
This is monumental because Nigeria’s population is one of the most crypto-focused countries in the world. The West African country’s young, tech-savvy population has eagerly adopted cryptocurrencies.
Now, with the authorities of the most populous African country now embracing Algorand and blockchain to make financial access easier, cheaper, and faster, there is a high probability that the rest of Africa and other developing countries of the world will follow suit.
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