The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has reconstituted the National Blockchain Policy Steering Committee (NBP-SC) to validate trends in blockchain technology and incorporate new stakeholders for inclusive adoption and implementation.
The Director-General of NITDA, Malam Kashifu Inuwa, inaugurated the committee on Tuesday at a three-day co-creation workshop to implement the policy in Abuja.
Represented by the Director of IT Infrastructure Solutions at NITDA, Mr Oladejo Olawunmi, Inuwa recalled that the committee was initially inaugurated on May 16, 2023. He, however, did not state why the committee had to be reconstituted a year later.
Inuwa noted that the agency constituted the committee to oversee the implementation of the National Blockchain Policy (NBP) and ensure its alignment with the overall goals and objectives of the policy. Members of the committee were drawn from government agencies, institutions, the private sector, academia, and the industry involved in the blockchain ecosystem.
Leveraging blockchain technology
The NITDA DG said that blockchain technology has been evolving and has increasingly transformative applications, hence the need to leverage the dynamic potential it possesses.
“Presently, we are at the initial stage of blockchain technology implementation and because of that, many people are not aware of the potential of the technology.
“Blockchain technology is so vast and can used in any industry and that is why the policy was developed to ensure we tap into the full potential of blockchain technology. The continuous evolving nature of blockchain technology and its increasingly transformative applications across diverse sectors necessitate a commensurate evolution in our leadership.
“We realised that there was a need to infuse some more members into the committee to ensure that we have full membership from the public and private sector to prevent anything that occurred in the past,” Inuwa said.
Inuwa said the strategic reconstitution of the committee would bring together a fresh wave of experienced professionals and leading minds in the blockchain space. According to him, their diverse expertise will be instrumental in crafting a robust implementation plan for the National Blockchain Policy.
Blockchain potential for economy
Inuwa cited a report by Price Waterhouse Coopers, an audit firm, titled “Time for Trust: The Trillion-Dollar Reason to Rethink Blockchain,” which projected that blockchain technology could boost the global economy by $1.76 trillion by the year 2030.
He emphasized that Nigeria needs to be strategic and take advantage of the offerings from the potential in blockchain technology.
“Together, we can leverage its potential to propel Nigeria’s socio-economic engine, and enhance the transparency and efficiency of governance. Blockchain can empower our citizens and businesses with secure and inclusive digital solutions in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu’s administration,” Inuwa said.
What you should know
The Federal Executive Council, during its meeting on May 3, 2023, approved the National Blockchain Policy for Nigeria. This followed the presentation of a memo by the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Professor Isa Pantami.
According to the government, the vision of the policy is to create a blockchain-powered economy that supports secure transactions, data sharing, and value exchange between people, businesses, and the government, thereby enhancing innovation, trust, growth, and prosperity for all.
The implementation of the National Blockchain Policy is expected to have a positive effect on both the public and private sectors of the country.
The approval of the policy had raised hopes among cryptocurrency stakeholders in Nigeria that the government was getting close to crypto regulation with the blockchain policy. However, recent developments show that the potential regulator, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) would not have anything to do with crypto.