World Map

Disrupting emerging markets with blockchain

A DISTRIBUTED LEDGER TECHNOLOGY COMPANY WITH AN OPERATIONAL BASE IN NIGERIA AND SIERRA LEONE HAS DETAILED ITS RECENT PURSUITS IN AFRICA.

A booming population like Africa (1.2 billion people) is in dire need of efficient systems to keep track of moving freight. Without the appropriate checks in place, what can you do if shipments disappear without a trace? At the forefront of this global concern, Domineum, headquartered in London, UK, was established to assist governments and companies with blockchain integration. In addition to conducting research and development in the US, it also saw an opportunity in the Nigerian market to modernise land and property registration. Poor official recordkeeping means the continent is rife with land-grabbers, which will only be exacerbated by shortages in food and fuel. There are reportedly more than 80 million landowners in Nigeria who lack property ownership certificates. If someone isn’t legally recognised as the owner of a patch of land, it makes sense that it cannot be legally disputed. And what if a heavy vehicle traverses a particular region and went missing? Naturally, your first port of call would be the authorities who would then reach out to those on the ground but without any certainty of who owns what this task would be relatively fruitless. Where’s the accountability? For the African economy, disruption to the supply chain, according to Domieum, hampers the growth of agriculture and other sectors because land is lost to other parties or taken by force by the government during conflict. To even get started with blockchain, there needs to be a base level of administration to work with. This is where Domineum comes in because this company aims to harness blockchain-based technology to issue costeffective and reliable ownership titles to millions of tribal property owners to connect them to a modern economic system. The company is striving to deliver Blockchain as a Service (Baas) and Software as a Service (SaaS) to increase overall efficiency of the real estate services sector for businesses, land departments and government agencies. This registry system was implemented in Abia State, Nigeria, to ensure the distribution and immutable storage of real estate documents, advanced query functionality on land and real estate, high precision boundary mapping and real estate cataloguing services, anti-fraud platforms and smart boundary and contract analysis using proprietary algorithms. Domineum is ultimately targeting the governments of Africa to embrace its technology. It managed to secure a five-year plan (2018-2023) with Sierra Leone, which was supported by the World Bank Group, to improve efficiencies with moving goods across its border as well as reduce trade costs by 10 per cent. Three months into the plan, Sierra Leone implemented the company’s cargo tracking system. From 2019 to 2021, Domineum claims it has captured $2 million in revenue that would’ve been lost. This business to government process appears to be win, win.

Blockchain tech is transforming Africa’s economy.

To even get started with blockchain, there needs to be a base level of administration to work with. This is where Domineum comes in because this company aims to harness blockchain-based technology to issue cost-effective and reliable ownership titles to millions of tribal property owners to connect them to a modern economic system.