The Federal Government has approved the National Blockchain Policy, calling on all the federal and state government institutions, including the private sectors, to leverage blockchain technologies in education, health, security, agriculture and finance, among others.
This followed the approval by the Federal Executive Council during its meeting on Wednesday in Abuja, after the presentation of a memo by the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof Isa Ali Ibrahim (Pantami).
According to the statement, deploying these applications will further support the implementation of the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy for a Digital Nigeria.
The statement also stated that process of developing the Policy involved robust stakeholder engagements across the public and private sectors.
“According to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), Blockchain Technologies could boost the global economy with US$1.76 trillion by 2030. The National Blockchain Policy for Nigeria is line with the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS), which was unveiled and launched by President Muhammadu Buhari on the 28th of November, 2019. The Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy developed the National Blockchain Policy for Nigeria on behalf of the Federal Government of Nigeria, in line with the 7th Pillar of the NDEPS, which focuses on Digital Society and Emerging Technologies.
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“The vision of the Policy is to create a Blockchain-powered economy that supports secure transactions, data sharing, and value exchange between people, businesses, and Government, thereby enhancing innovation, trust, growth, and prosperity for all. The implementation of the National Bloackchain Policy will have a positive effect on both the public and private sectors of the country.
“Blockchain Technology has the potential to revolutionize many industries, from finance and healthcare to transportation and supply chain management. Blockchain Technology makes transactions more transparent, trustworthy, and efficient and it can result in considerable cost savings and better user experiences. Furthermore, Blockchain Technology can boost innovation, improve public services, create job opportunities, and drive economic growth.
“These benefits have inspired governments around the world to explore ways to leverage this important technology. With the approval of the National Blockchain Policy, Nigeria joins the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Estonia, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, Denmark and other leading technology countries in adopting Blockchain Technology at the national level.
The activities of the policy shall be coordinated by the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), under the supervision of the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy. A multi-sectoral Steering Committee has also been approved to oversee the implementation of the policy.
The Federal Executive Council has further directed relevant regulatory bodies to develop regulatory instruments for the deployment of Blockchain Technology across various sectors of the economy.
These regulatory agencies include NITDA, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the National Universities Commission (NUC), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), among others,” the statement said.
