About Cardano
Cardano is an open-source and decentralized blockchain driven by a research-first approach to solving basic problems including lack of access to financial services, lack of business transparency and accountability, lack of control over one’s identity, and a lot more.
Cardano is designed to be scalable, sustainable, and interoperable with other blockchain and Web3 services, and is the first provably secure proof-of-stake blockchain.
As a proof-of-stake blockchain, Cardano is an environmentally-friendly blockchain platform and is able to host decentralized applications for finance, identity, creative property, and more.
As of January 2023, it has more than 1,150 applications building on Cardano to provide a wide variety of much-needed services to those that lack traditional economic services all over the world. Cardano has also processed more than 58 million transactions on its network and has a robust pool of ada holders (Cardano’s native cryptocurrency) participating in staking to secure its network in a decentralized manner.
To accomplish these objectives of providing accessible basic economic services, especially to those underserved, Cardano’s founding partners EMURGO and IOG have built a considerable presence in Africa, a core market that will constitute 42% of global youth by 2030.
EMURGO Middle East & Africa: A regional entity to boost Cardano awareness and adoption
In October 2021, EMURGO launched EMURGO Africa as part of its original $100 million Cardano ecosystem investment vehicle and later announced an additional $100 million of funding support in an interview with CoinDesk.
A regional entity of EMURGO, EMURGO Africa has engaged in Cardano blockchain training & education efforts, supporting local entrepreneurs to build impactful solutions on Cardano, raising Cardano awareness and building a local community through events, and forged partnerships to drive Cardano expansion.
Read more: Meet EMURGO Middle East & Africa’s co-CEOs focused on driving Cardano adoption
Africa’s Youth Propelling its Digital Rise
The median age in Africa is estimated to be 19 years, the youngest in the world according to the UN, and is home to over 1.3 billion people.
Over the past several years, Africa has seen a rapid rise in the embrace of Internet-based technologies and digital education of its youth, thus fueling the development of tech startups and now blockchain.
The World Economic Forum in its report lists Africa as one of the fastest-growing continents for crypto adoption.
Combined with a very young population currently and also in the near future, it is expected to be a market where technological trends will have faster adoption rates relative to elsewhere.
What is the “Africa strategy”?
With the correct pieces in place (EMURGO Africa, IOG, investment efforts, local accelerators, a growing local community, young population, etc.) the “Africa strategy” is the overall strategy to drive Cardano adoption in the African continent to everyday users and businesses in the years to come with real impactful solutions that deliver actual value.
This strategy will be achieved by having the pieces continue to advance in their efforts to build awareness and community, and support the development of real use case solutions built on Cardano. For this to happen, there must continue to be engagement with local public and private stakeholders in delivering projects that solve real issues in the market such as tracking education performance, efficient cross-border payments, secure data management, and more. EMURGO Africa and IOG continue to engage with these stakeholders through meetings, hosting local events for entrepreneurs and community, and running a local Cardano accelerator program for blockchain startups.
Along with investment funding, building community, and engaging with public and private stakeholders, EMURGO Africa and EMURGO Academy continue to train and educate local developers to start building services on Cardano and empower their careers.
The Africa strategy will not be completed overnight but will be a culmination of the work put in place over several years to build the foundation for Cardano adoption.
Follow EMURGO Africa on Twitter for up-to-date information
EMURGO Africa is a regional entity of EMURGO, focused on investing and supporting Africa’s Web3 entrepreneurs and startups to build impactful solutions leveraging Cardano’s environmentally-friendly blockchain.
For those interested in investment or with questions, please visit https://emurgo.africa/ and also follow EMURGO Africa on its official channels below.
About EMURGO Middle East & Africa
- Official Homepage: emurgo.africa
- Twitter: @EmurgoAfrica
- Telegram: https://t.me/emurgoafrica
