NITDA proposes roadmap for blockchain adoption, partners with Domineum to equip 30,000 Nigerians with blockchain skill set
Despite the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) prohibition on cryptocurrency trading by licensed banks in Nigeria and the relative increase in crypto use by citizens, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has partnered with blockchain-as-a-service startup, Domineum, to enable 30,000 Nigerians to have access to a scholarship program.
The program titled “NITDA Blockchain Scholarship (NBS), 2022 Scheme” was sealed at the Digital Nigeria 2022 event on October 26, where the Director General of the agency, Kashifu Inuwa, spoke about the importance of blockchain adoption in the country noting that it has the potential to tighten cyber security and enable the growth of the economy.
“With Blockchain Technology supporting these new-age concepts, we can expect that the future will belong to decentralised resources.
“Blockchain is now at a point where large corporations and governments, not just a tiny hyper-technical community of IT experts, are starting to comprehend its potential to improve people’s lives and build more resilient organisations,” Inuwa stated.
Upon this premise, a draft called ‘National Blockchain Adoption Strategy’ has been formulated and presented.
In this latest development, the NBS scheme proposed to start by December 1, 2022, will be delivered virtually and physically across all states of the federation. Nigerians who have access to laptops or desktops without programming experience are eligible for the program as long as they are willing to dedicate a minimum of 20 hours per week.
Having partnered with Domineum Blockchain, the courses will be implemented via blockchain edtech platform, BSV Academy. Outstanding teams in the project phase can join an incubation program in London while others will be immersed in the edtech platform to take on various projects.
Co-founder Domineum, Mohammed Jega emphasised the commitment of the startup to delivering “quality education and equipping participants with the skills to build real-life blockchain solutions”.
Further commenting on the partnership, Course Coordinator and Country CTO of Domineum, Calistus Igwilo, said that “blockchain will power the next generation data and the courses are carefully designed to equip participants with the right skills to become professionals and help shape the future of the blockchain industry.”
Applications to the NBS scheme start from October 31 to November 18, 2022.
To apply for the program, follow the link here.
About Domineum
Founded in 2017 by Geoffrey Weli Wosu to deliver blockchain-as-a-service and AI-enabled Saas to marine services, land mapping and real estate for the government, Domineum has created more than $5 million for several African governments.