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Diversified investment group, Sekunjalo Investment Holdings (Sekunjalo), has announced it has partnered with Chinese public Blockchain leader, Ultrain Technology Limited (Ultrain), to develop a pan-African open blockchain business ecosystem – The African Chain 3.0.
Sekunjalo and Ultrain will develop a robust new generation of financial infrastructure in Africa that is commercially sustainable, and responsible. The African Chain will be run in unification with Sekunjalo’s pan-African eCommerce platform. The foundation will be built on the public access for commercial use Blockchain model developed by Ultrain, to handle payments, clearing and potentially, lending, among other key financial services, all of which is aimed at providing African people and businesses with convenience and accountability.
According to a recent report by Cointelegraph.com, blockchain adoption in Africa is on the rise. From transportation to the gaming and lottery industries, reports of companies utilizing decentralized ledger technology (DLT) across the continent are emerging. Several stakeholders in the African blockchain scene say DLT is the key to solving the developmental issues plaguing the continent as a whole. They also believe the technology provides a platform for Africa to elevate itself to a position of greater relevance in global affairs.
Also Forbes in a recent report stated:
Today, much of Africa has an opportunity to leapfrog the development mistakes of the West by reimagining entire systems of production, financial services, and governance fueled by blockchain, positioning itself as the ultimate unicorn case study.
While still in the early stages, decentralized technologies in Africa have succeeded in gaining traction, effectively tackling the continent’s most pressing economic, social, and political issues. With the emerging sectors of education, financial services, land titling, healthcare, and agriculture most ripe for innovation, here are just some of the leaders spearheading the biggest impact projects in Africa using distributed ledger technology.
Emma Liao, co-Founder at Ultrain remarked: “It’s crucial to build a convenient, secure and reliable financial infrastructure for African people. We are honoured to work with Sekunjalo and to build such a tool together, and to promote it with the help of Sekunjalo’s matrix of businesses. We will also provide training and solutions to other African enterprises or ventures who wish to use blockchain features to get on board. We believe this has huge potential to benefit the end users and businesses, with a better purchasing experience and more efficient transactions.”
Typical businesses that will benefit from The African Chain include the likes of the travel, luxury goods, supply chain, sharing economy, health care, retail, media entertainment, new energy sectors and many other industries, trading in the 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR) and beyond.
Dr Iqbal Survé, Chairman of Sekunjalo said: “I am excited about this partnership and investment with Ultrain, as the potential to radically change and enhance how the continent does business, is unlimited.
“Sekunjalo is delighted that the advances China has made in technology, are now going to be made available for an African payment infrastructure. The opportunities for collaboration with Ultrain are immense and we are therefore looking forward to growing our joint footprint on the African continent, and positively contributing to Africa’s digital evolution.”
Dr Survé also commented on how Ultrain and Sekujanlo through various networks, including the Belt and Road Networks and the Belt and Road African Fund, were looking forward to expanding the vision of President Xi Jinping for the Belt and Road to have a positive impact for all of the people living and working on the African continent.
Ultrain and Sekunjalo have also jointly committed to directing a substantial part of the profitability of their partnership, to philanthropic initiatives on the African continent that will include the training young Africans – with an emphasis on women- in block chain technologies and payment systems. Through the offices of Survé Philanthropies, an additional foundation will now be established for block chain technology training in Africa to be co-chaired by Dr Surve and Emma Liao.
A further announcement regarding the partnership’s investment, will be made at the African Union meeting in Addis Ababa in 2020, with the Belt and Road Africa Council and Belt and Road Africa Fund.
