ADDIS ABABA (Semonegna)–Ethiopia is the latest African nation to express interest in blockchain-powered solutions, commonly known as blockchain technology, by signing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with fledgling cryptocurrency startup Cardano. As a start, Cardano will collaborate will work with the Ministry of Technology to implement blockchain technology in the country’s agriculture industry.
The MOU was signed by Ethiopia’s Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) Minister Dr. Ing. Getahun Mekuria and Cardano’s parent company Input Output HK (IOHK) Chief Executive Officer Charles Hoskinson in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Just signed an MOU with the Ethiopian Ministry of Science and Technology to explore training blockchain developers and use Cardano in the Agritech Industry pic.twitter.com/r06W0RSZye
— Charles Hoskinson (@IOHK_Charles) May 3, 2018
The Ministry announced that working with IOHK, which has vast experience in blockchain technology will be advantageous for Ethiopia. Further in the announcement, the Ministry has pointed out that Ethiopia will soon use blockchain technology to increase the foreign currency the country is getting from coffee production and export.
Dr. Ing. Getahun said the blockchain technology will serve in quality control of the coffee production in each step from converting the raw fruit of the coffee plant into the finished coffee and making available to the consumer. He also added the Ministry will embark facilitating the opportunities to use blockchain technology in such sectors as finance and agriculture, and even in election processes. IOHK’s Cardano will provide trainings and necessary supports in using blockchain technology in the country.
What is blockchain (blockchain technology)?
[From Bits on Blocks] People use the term ‘blockchain technology’ to mean different things, and it can be confusing. Sometimes they are talking about The Bitcoin Blockchain, sometimes it’s The Ethereum Blockchain, sometimes it’s other virtual currencies or digital tokens, sometimes it’s smart contracts. Most of the time though, they are talking about distributed ledgers, i.e. a list of transactions that is replicated across a number of computers, rather than being stored on a central server.The common themes seem to be a data store which:
- usually contains financial transactions
- is replicated across a number of systems in almost real-time
- usually exists over a peer-to-peer network
- uses cryptography and digital signatures to prove identity, authenticity and enforce read/write access rights
- can be written by certain participants
- can be read by certain participants, maybe a wider audience, and
- has mechanisms to make it hard to change historical records, or at least make it easy to detect when someone is trying to do so
I see “blockchain technology” as a collection of technologies, a bit like a bag of Lego. From the bag, you can take out different bricks and put them together in different ways to create different results.
Read A gentle introduction to blockchain technology at From Bits on Blocks