Cardano’s ecosystem is being refilled with new projects that are aiming to improve the African region.
Input Output Global (IOG), the developer of Cardano recently signed an agreement with iceaddis — an Ethiopian incubator for technology startups to help local creatives and entrepreneurs. As part of Project Catalyst, the largest decentralized innovation fund in the world, the three partners established the Ariob incubator.
This partnership will aid in the development of projects that are funded through the Project Catalyst Foundation. Venture capital experts and resources are available to entrepreneurs in order to help their creation of products that can solve actual problems in Africa. The community chooses the programs they prefer and creators receive financial aid to bring their ideas into practice.
What is the reason for Africa?
Africa is poised to become an important hub for blockchain technology. It is a diverse continent that has witnessed a rapid spread of cutting-edge technology. Africa is free from the dependence on old systems. This is what makes it easier for technological advances to develop and grow. Initiatives that are in the area of technology, financial services and development have great potential for modernizing both industry and society as in general.
There is plenty of potential in Africa to see the adoption and distribution of cryptocurrency. https://pastelink.net/zbopnt2b is responsible for just 2% of all global crypto transactions. However, KuCoin cryptocurrency exchange analysts discovered that Africans used cryptocurrencies in some countries by 2670% more than in 2018.
“The use of digital assets is increasing rapidly across Africa,” said Johnny Lyu, KuCoin CEO. African countries are the most popular for cryptocurrency use, far exceeding areas like Asia, Europe, and the USA,” stated Johnny Lyu, KuCoin CEO.
The region is home to one of the top rates of mass adoption of cryptocurrencies across the world. Three countries: Kenya and Nigeria are in the top 20 countries in the Global Cryptocurrency Adoption Index (Chainalysis), taking respectively 5th sixth, 6th, and 16th 16th, and 19th positions.
Republic of South Africa is the top of the line in terms of market volumes and currency owners. According to research carried out by the research firm KLA about 47% of the population in South Africa are holders of cryptocurrency, and another third plan to invest in them in the near future.
Input Output Global announced in 2015 a partnership to the Ethiopian Ministry of Education. The partnership will allow five million Ethiopian students to display their academic credentials using Atala-based AtalaPRISM technology. IOG has also partnered with World Mobile in Zanzibar to provide access to basic online services using blockchain technology, since 40% of Africans don’t have internet access. 1000 service providers are available to all developed nations in the world, however nearly half of Africa’s population isn’t accessible.
Charles Hoskinson is the founder and CEO at IOG. Hoskinson has stated repeatedly that Africa could attain an “economic miracle” and catch up with bigger economies such as China as well as the United States. Cardano is dedicated to promoting this kind of miracle on the African continent.
In this respect incubator programs are essential. Initiatives like Project Catalyst and Ariob provide projects in Africa with more than just economic tools, but also educational and entrepreneurial tools that can accelerate sustainable growth of the ecosystem and increase sustainability. An IOG representative has added this comment to their latest launch:
“The Ariob incubator. A few projects are selected to be part of the support program. The program will run through 2022’s first quarter. This program offers services that help in bringing creativity to life by testing ideas, evaluating concepts, and creating prototypes to create the best products. Ariob is also able to help with the linking of projects with educational institutions , as in addition to local and non-governmental organisations.
What is the current situation in the Cardano ecosystem?
Cardano is working currently on Hydra updates and has focused its efforts on sustainability as well as improving the system. Cardano currently lies in the Basho stage. This stage will create an ecosystem that supports and facilitates the creation of decentralized applications (dApps). Cardano has seen significant growth already: around 1,000 projects are being developed on it.
NFT projects are among the most active, with 47.9 percent. The reason for this is that both creators and users are investing in the blockchain’s potential performance. Cardano NFT has made Snoop Dog a big star as Clay Nation partners with the rapper to provide “iconic NFTs” via the internet.
Cross-blockchain blockchain projects, which enable transactions between different blockchains are also becoming well-known. Cardano also works in this area. Milkomeda, which is a second-level protocol that offers EVM capabilities for other blockchains, was launched on the main network of Cardano at the close of March. This enabled users to launch Ethereum dApps inside the Cardano ecosystem.
The lending sector is the third frequent activity in the Cardano ecosystem. The value of the global financial industry market is estimated to reach 26.08 billion US dollars, and the average annual growth rate for the industry from 2021 to 2028 will be 24%..