Nigeria to introduce blockchain technologies in financial sector

Nigeria is working on a framework for the adoption of blockchain technologies in the financial sector of the economy.
Dr. Isa Pantami, Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) made this known during the Conference on Blockchain Technologies at the Gulf Information Technology Innovation (GITEX) Technology Week 2018 holding in Dubai.
TheNewsGuru (TNG) reports a blockchain, originally block chain, basically is a growing list of records, called blocks, which are linked using cryptography.
Each block contains a cryptographic hash of the previous block, a timestamp, and transaction data. The first major application of blockchain technology was bitcoin which was released in 2009.
NITDA boss, who joined other panelists at the panel discussion on ‘Living in a blockchain powered world’ during the Vertical Day Conference at GITEX 2018, said peculiar challenges of Nigeria would be taken into account before the technology is introduced.
“We are working on a framework for the adoption of blockchain technologies in the financial sector of Nigeria, taking into account our peculiar challenges,” Pantami, who is also the Chief Information Technology Officer of Nigeria stated.
TNG reports NITDA sponsored six Nigerian outstanding start-ups to showcase their technological innovations at the GITEX Technology Week, an annual Information and Communication Technology trade show, exhibition, and conference that holds in the Dubai World Trade Centre, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
The event is aimed at showcasing the global technological advancements and innovations in the domain of consumer electronics, with government and private sector technology institutions in participation.