The Federal Government of Nigeria through the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has announced the plan to train 30,000 Nigerians on blockchain technology.

The training which is expected to start by December 2022 will be done in partnership with Domineum Blockchain Solutions (DBS). 

According to NITDA, the blockchain training is in line with the country’s objective for digital economy and emerging technologies. 

While training will be hybrid (Virtual and In-Person), Investors King learnt the scholarship is open to all Nigerians irrespective of state or place of residence.

In addition, participants will be grouped for team projects while the best team during the project phase will have the opportunity to join an incubation programme in London. 

To register for the scholarship, interested applicants must be 18 years or above and be willing to commit at least 20 hours a week to the course. 

Furthermore, intending applicants must have access to a laptop computer or Desktop as well as a strong internet connection. 

While the duration of the course would be three months, NITDA noted that a basic understanding of coding will be an advantage, although not a necessity for consideration. 

Investors King learnt further that the successful applicants will receive scholarship alerts on their phones ahead of the training which is scheduled to begin by the 1st of December 2022. 

Intending applicants can apply by clicking on the following link “NITDA Blockchain Scholarship“. Please note that the deadline for the application is 28th of November 2022. 

This NITDA scholarship themed “Accelerating Blockchain Adoption in Nigeria and Empowering Developers to Build Blockchain Solutions for Enterprise and Government Project” is part of a broader strategy of the ministry of communication and digital economy to engage several Nigerian youths on digital skills that can enhance their lives and prepared then for the growing technology marketplace. 

It would be recalled that the Miniter of Communication and Digital Economy recently signed a memorandum of understanding with Microsoft Corporation to train five million Nigerians on high-demand digital skills.

Gluwa, an open finance platform that connects capital from developed markets to emerging markets using blockchain technology, has disclosed its plan to partner with the Lagos state government to transform the state agricultural sector.

With a plan to digitize agricultural assets, the startup has expressed its commitment to ensure that Lagos State becomes fully self-sufficient in areas of food security amongst others. This, it said would be achieved through the deployment of its blockchain technology.

This was disclosed by the Chief Executive Officer of Gluwa Tae Oh while speaking at the launch of the Agricultural and Food Systems road map in Lagos state.

He said, “Agriculture being one of the backbones of the Nigerian economy, with only 35% of the population employed, the agricultural sector must be modernized for the government and the organized private sector to realize its full potential and enjoy its benefits.

“According to the five-year Lagos State Agricultural and Food Systems road map, where the sector is projected to generate upwards of $10bn by the year 2025, it will be of immense value for agricultural assets to be identified, recorded, and traded using innovative blockchain technology”.

Gluwa’s CEO further disclosed that the project will entail partnering with the Lagos State ministries of agriculture, finance, science and technology as well as the lands bureau on the integration of physical farmlands into non-fungible tokens, to provide access to digital asset-backed loans for all Lagos State farmers.

Investors king understands that Blockchain technology is currently used in the agricultural sector in different parts of the world, due to its ability to track the provenance of food, thus creating trustworthy food supply chains which help to build trust between producers and consumers.

Reports reveals that 1.7 million Lagosians are food insecure, hence deploying blockchain technology in the state Agricultural sector will improve production output, thereby ensuring food security.

Crypto-fiat exchange platform that allows traders to buy and sell Bitcoin, Ethereum, Celo, and other digital assets, Bitmama, recently raised $2milion in pre-seed funding.

The latest round was led by Unicorn Growth Capital and Launch Africa Ventures, with participation from Adaverse and follow-on from Flori Ventures, which led its earlier pre-seed round.

New investors in the round include Tekedia Capital, GreenHouse Capital, ODBA, Five35 Ventures, Chrysalis Capital, Enrich Africa, Thrive Africa, Angellist Ventures, and angel investors including, CELO founders; Rene Reinsberg, and Marek Olszewski, and Honey Ogundeyi.

Currently in three African markets; Nigeria, Ghana, and Kenya, Bitmama’s users can trade several cryptocurrencies, and can as well use their debit cards for regular online payments, payment of utility bills, and performing transactions such as staking to hedge against currency devaluation.

From its inception, Bitmama has always had the dream to make everyone understand and enjoy crypto beyond trading. With this $2 million pre-seed raised, that dream is now a step toward reality.

This means new markets, loftier goals, and better crypto spending, trading, and living experience for all of its customers.

Commenting on the pre-seed round, Founder and CEO of Bitmama Inc, Ruth Iselema disclosed that the company is hell-bent on building Africa’s most innovative blockchain company, and they are glad to have gotten the backing of seasoned investors.

See what she said;

“Bitmama has made a number of strides in the past year. We’ve rolled out two products, both of which are fast closing in on 100,000 users across the African market and recording impressive daily active users across our range of product offerings despite the market dynamics.

“We are building Africa’s most user-friendly, innovative blockchain company, and we are glad to have the backing of seasoned investors and partners who have walked similar turfs.

“We are privileged to learn from their blended experiences across corporate and blockchain business verticals. We’re confident of the results we’ve achieved so far and we’re set to build the next big solution that the market deserves.”