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There has been a resounding call for Nigeria, and Africa in general, to incorporate blockchain technology<\/a> into its mainstream living. However, during a fireside chat involving stakeholders in the Nigerian blockchain community, it was noted that poverty has to be conquered first before blockchain technology can be properly incorporated into African society.<\/p>\n At the Stakeholders in Blockchain Technology Association of Nigeria (SIBAN)\u2019s Digital Assets Summit 2023, held in Abuja, the nation\u2019s capital, GT Igwe Chrisent, the CEO of Sumotrust & Truzact, an online savings and investment platform stated that hunger and poverty first need to be eradicated from Africa before a better level of blockchain technology incorporation can be achieved.<\/p>\n According<\/a> to a World Bank report titled \u201cA Better Future for All Nigerians: Nigeria Poverty Assessment 2022,\u201d just 17 percent of Nigerian workers hold the wage jobs best able to lift people out of poverty.<\/p>\n In Chrisent\u2019s view, being able to erase the poor class in general and move them to the middle class would be the biggest driver of faster blockchain technology incorporation. This is to enable them to afford three square meals daily and have a little extra to save. However, the stability of the economy in Africa is key to establishing this.<\/p>\n In his words:<\/p>\n \u201c If we do not fix that, we\u2019ll keep having these conversations over and over again\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Despite the extra scalability that comes from incorporating blockchain technology as a nation and continent, individuals cannot focus on exploring them while still battling with the problem of basic amenities, said Chrisent. <\/p>\n Related: <\/em><\/strong>Nigeria\u2019s Web3 education efforts seek to tackle language challenges<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Despite the poverty challenges, Nigeria has emerged as one of the most active countries in terms of adoption and curiosity about Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. According<\/a> to data from Google Trends, Nigeria ranks second by search interest for the keyword \u201cBitcoin,\u201d behind El Salvador.<\/p>\n The current Nigerian President, Bola Tinubu released a manifesto<\/a> during his campaign which, if implemented, would enable the use of blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies in the nation\u2019s banking and finance sector. <\/p>\n