Blockchain technology is transforming various sectors of business, entertainment and everyday life.
We used to associate blockchain with cryptocurrency, however, its applications extend well beyond that.
While cryptocurrencies are widely recognized, the true potential of blockchain resides in its capacity to reshape the digital economy.
We can see how blockchain is already developing in Africa and how it is changing the business environment. African NFT artists are utilizing blockchain to achieve greater creative freedom, which enables them to circumvent traditional galleries and intermediaries.
This change grants artists increased control over their work and amplifies opportunities within the art sector. This is one example of how Satoshi Nakamoto’s invention changes life for the better.
Combination of the blockchain and metaverses developed, for example, by Meta, Decentraland, and Holiverse companies enables real breakthroughs in business, technology and social life.
Addressing Local Challenges with Blockchain in Africa
African nations often encounter issues associated with land ownership conflicts, corruption and inefficient transaction processes. Blockchain technology offers a means to tackle these issues by providing an immutable ledger for securely recorded property transactions, ensuring transparency and fostering trust. Blockchain enables users to access cryptocurrency assets, thereby facilitating participation in decentralized finance and unlocking new economic prospects.
In Africa, various real estate companies and platforms are beginning to explore the potential of blockchain technology to enhance transactional efficiency and security. Ensuring building a trusted distributed ledger to record land buying and selling transactions that can never be altered, corrupted, forged or replicated in error.
The challenges associated with the ownership of physical property, such as ambiguous titles and fraudulent practices, highlight the disruptive potential of blockchain in real estate. Utilizing blockchain technology, property transactions gain transparency and efficiency, enabling seamless ownership transfers with no need for intermediaries. This innovation not only reduces transactional costs but also enhances trust between buyers and sellers navigating the complexities of real estate.
A 2023 Chainalysis report shows that Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa accounted for 70% of Africa’s $88.5 million blockchain funding, with Nigeria ranking second globally in cryptocurrency adoption. However, the integration of blockchain technology in economics remains relatively limited.
Blockchain in Africa: from real estate to farming
There is an increasing interest towards implementing blockchain in land registration and record systems. Distress Property Market Ltd has partnered with Wallstreet Exchange to leverage blockchain technology for addressing challenges in the Nigerian property market, striving to streamline transactions and broaden investment access.
Nigerian startups are leading the way in developing blockchain-based land and property registries to digitize the real estate sector, enhancing transparency and security in transactions. At the 2021 Nigerian Blockchain Conference, several startups showcased solutions addressing fraud and inefficiencies in the real estate market. Their presentations included case studies illustrating how blockchain technology can improve land registration processes and increase transparency in property ownership, ultimately transforming the industry and protecting stakeholders.
Blockchain can greatly benefit farmers by enabling them to sell their crops directly to consumers or businesses. By documenting each transaction on a blockchain, farmers can receive fair payments promptly, eliminating the need for intermediaries who often take a share of the profits. This enhances their income and provides them with direct control over their sales and prices. An example of this is the implementation of blockchain in cocoa supply chains, where farmers can track their products from farm to market, ensuring they receive fair compensation while fostering relationships with ethical buyers. Another critical application is in improving government transparency and accountability. With blockchain, governments can track public funds and expenditures in real time.
Blockchain and Africa’s Economic Evolution
The advancement of blockchain technology is particularly relevant within the context of the metaverse, where it offers substantial promise in addressing long-standing economic challenges in Africa.
There are no boundaries in metaverses, everyone can enter their digital worlds. They unleash unique opportunities for business and initiate greenfield projects. Don’t see any real-world business prospects? Get in the metaverse and try your hand at digital business.
Crypto assets, virtual real estate, virtual goods, metaverse land – all these objects become the basis of a new economy. These virtual assets are already being transformed into real money, demonstrating the interaction of the real and virtual worlds.
Metaverses now are the trend of the IT-industry. Business giants such as Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta and fast-growing ambitious companies like DeFi platform Holiverse by Lado Okhotnikov develop their own metaverses.
Holiverse uses blockchain as a basic technology controlling the metaverse. All interactions are based on smart contracts made by means of Polygon blockchain. This provides the decentralization of management and decision-making.
Any asset is bought or sold through the NFT associated with the asset. NFT and the corresponding smart contract guarantee receipt of funds by the seller and ownership transfer to the buyer.
The rise of virtual real estate and digital assets within the metaverse exemplifies the way blockchain facilitates innovative ownership structures and economic models, which are especially critical in African contexts where conventional mechanisms may prove inadequate.
Conceptual Framework of Virtual Real Estate: Holiverse creates new reality
Metaverse concept has the potential to significantly enhance traditional real estate processes by offering increased transparency, efficiency, and security pertaining to the acquisition of land, property, or assets. Platforms such as Holiverse allow users to buy, sell, and lease digital properties, creating opportunities for businesses to establish sophisticated storefronts, engage customers, and host events.
The evolution towards virtual property ownership introduces complexities regarding the adaptation of traditional real estate concepts to digital marketplaces. Metaverse does not just imitate the real world, it improves it by striving for the ideal. Imagine a world where corruption and deception, agreements and transactions are carried out, your property cannot be stolen or taken away. That’s how the blockchain works.
The emergence of blockchain technology in Africa hints at its transformative potential. Visionaries, operating also in Africa through international platforms like Holiverse are paving the way for a reimagined digital landscape that goes beyond mere technology application and serves as a catalyst for innovation.
The vision behind Holiverse’s technology is to offer an immersive environment that combines virtual reality, augmented reality, and blockchain, enabling users to connect and explore unique experiences.
Now imagine, soon everyone will be able to choose the perfect digital world for themselves. Sooner or later, we will see how the metaverses will influence reality, improving it and creating a new space of harmony.