Blockchain Development in Africa: IO’s Journey and Advancements of RealFi and Atala PRISM in Ethiopia

To impact the financial economy and improve the lives of individuals in Africa, Input|Output (IO) has decided to introduce new technology in Ethiopia after running a pilot program for IT students in Greece and Barbados. A comprehensive blog post detailed how the Ethiopian government took significant steps to accelerate the digital future of the country. This effort was outlined in the 155-page Digital Ethiopia 2025 report, which was approved by the Ethiopian Council of Ministers in June 2020.

Interestingly, Charles Hoskinson, the co-founder of Cardano (ADA), was mentioned as a key figure in the report, as the Prime Minister of Ethiopia shared his vision of utilizing blockchain technology. Following this, Hoskinson revealed plans for local blockchain developers in Ethiopia to be trained using Cardano to improve product traceability, initially focusing on coffee exports, which account for 10% of government revenue.

According to the blog post, the Ethiopian government was advised to focus on teaching recent graduates how to use Haskell, a programming language that would allow them to develop a ledger of products and producers on the Cardano blockchain. The program initially focused on women, but some students had to quit their jobs to focus on training, so a stipend program was introduced. The Haskell training then spread rapidly across Africa.

The report also mentions that the Ethiopian government agreed to move forward with the system designed for students, which relies on Atala PRISM. This system is essential due to the lack of resources in developing countries to keep track of vital personal information.

Hoskinson explained that the plan to start with education was intended to roll out across the entire country. This would have made Ethiopia the first country with a self-sovereign identification system. People could then use this digital identity as a portable credential, which would eventually integrate into passports and the banking system.

Identus, a platform developed by the Atala IO team to enable decentralized identity solutions, played a significant role in the Ethiopian Ministry project. The report highlights the contributions of RealFi in inspiring creativity and determination in this effort.