NEAR Foundation the Swiss non-profit that oversees the governance
and development of the NEAR protocol, today announced it has partnered with
local blockchain community Sankore to launch a regional hub in Kenya dedicated
to ongoing blockchain innovation, education and talent development throughout
the African continent.
Kenya ranked fifth in last year's Global Crypto Adoption Index, and Kenyans are already directly trading cryptocurrencies with each other more than elsewhere in the world.
Besides expanding throughout Nairobi, NEAR is also reaching
lesser-known cities in Kenya where no other Layer 1 blockchain has an established
presence as yet.
The hub will be led by Kevin Imani, the founder
of Sankore, and supported by a core team of four members. Comprised of events,
an academy, an incubation program, and the Sankore Bounty ecosystem, the hub
will be a promising intersection of Africa’s most talented blockchain
developers and international support for their innovations.
“We are thrilled to be working with NEAR to educate and nurture
talented individuals to become world-class blockchain developers,” said Kevin Imani, who will lead the NEAR hub in
Kenya. “Our dream is to lead the way in blockchain innovations in providing
solutions to Africa’s biggest problems. The NEAR Protocol allows tomorrow’s
brightest developers to build custom solutions with scalability, security, and
transparency and this hub is the next step in turning our shared vision into
reality.”
The overwhelming attendance rates of Sankore NEAR-Meets, where
locals gather to gain blockchain education and meet people in the NEAR
ecosystem, have demonstrated the enthusiasm of younger generations in Kenya
towards crypto, blockchain, and web3 education.
The gatherings have allowed people to learn, share ideas, network,
establish opportunities in the open web, and make Web3 a reality. A recent
event held in Nakuru focused on Harnessing Opportunities in Web3 with a
NEAR-Certified Developer advising local developers on acquiring blockchain
certification and NEAR Developer Certification.
The education arm of the hub has already made strong connections
with local universities, with 77 registered students in the NEAR Certified
Developer Workshops, seven students registered to the NEAR Certified Analysts
Workshops, and six students already officially certified as developers.
As for incubated projects, Sankore has previously gained local
traction by supporting several forward-thinking projects such as Kilimo Shwari,
an on-chain solution seeking to hedge Kenyan farmers against agricultural
uncertainties such as bad weather and calamities like the recent locust invasion
in Kenya. The insurance is based on smart contracts, gathering data on
uncertainties and automatically compensating farmers.
Another incubated project is Ledja, which tackles fraud throughout
the African region, and fights against forged documentation. By cooperating
with higher learning institutions and initiating document digitisation using
NEAR Protocol, it enables much faster, safer, and more secure document
verification.
The continent has been undergoing a rapid digital revolution over
the past decade, and African countries have been adopting crypto quicker than
their global counterparts. Cryptocurrency adoption in Africa increased 120% from July 2020 to June 2021, the fastest adoption rate in the world. Alongside this has been
a growing appetite among African youth for technical training and education
opportunities.
“We are excited by the potential avenues throughout Africa for
blockchain solutions, which come from innovation in development, education and
talent,” said Marieke Flament, CEO of the NEAR Foundation. “This hub represents
a unique opportunity to partner with local talent not only for the opportunities
that we know exist today but also for the opportunities yet to be created in
the future."
Internationally, the excitement continues to build around the
potential of the NEAR blockchain. Unlike other networks, NEAR gives
software developers easy access to create
new crypto applications, from Non Fungible Tokens (NFTs) to decentralised
finance products and launching new business models and consumer products.
The NEAR blockchain is also much faster than
Ethereum, the world’s most used blockchain. It acts as a bridge to other
blockchains, allowing for the free flow of assets and communication between
networks for the betterment of all.
