Global adoption of blockchain technology is accelerating. Governments around the world are taking note, exploring its potential to bring greater transparency and efficiency to their operations.
Ghana is poised to become the first African nation to adopt blockchain technology for its government operations, according to Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia. The announcement was made during the 14th regional conference and annual general assembly of the heads of anti-corruption agencies in the African Commonwealth, held in Accra from May 6 to 11.
“We will adopt blockchain technology for government to ensure that all data and transactions in the government space are transparent and irrefutable, no one can change them, so ours could very well become the first government to run on blockchain in AfricaBawumia said.
This initiative is part of the Ghana Digitization Strategy, which has been implemented since 2017. The strategy has enabled the government to raise GH₵201 billion (about $14.2 billion) from 2023 through the digitization of public services through the Ghana Platform .gov. In addition, the new digital identity allowed the government to trace 404,707 fictitious names on the National Service System payroll and 29,000 fictitious pensioners.
By adopting blockchain, Ghana aims to secure government data in a secure manner. According to Bawumia, this technology will serve as a bulwark against corruption by tracking every modification made to digital data.
Blockchain is an advanced database mechanism that enables the transparent exchange of information across a network. It can be used to record contracts, financial transactions, digital assets, votes and more, in a decentralized and secure way.
Samira Njoya