Detailed Plan

Preamble: I am testing waters to see if there is interest in the community, so I do not yet have a detailed plan. Although from Europe, as a descendent of the continent, I want to give back. Have been so inspired about the potential for Cardano to finally make a difference in turning around the sad story of the continent from the last centuries. It is a rich continent full of beautiful people, resources and so much potential - this is Africa’s time if people can grab it.

The issue

The main issue is to get around the “distrust”. I feel the blockchain is perfect for this: if we have a solution which can prove to investors the records and provenance of those invested in, and vice versa, with deals locked in smart contracts which everybody can agree on before and are audited to be safe from the perspective of the parties, with open trails for all expenditure (vital for auditing : we can be sure our money gets to the right people and is only used for agreed upon purposes, within agreed time-scales and other parameters. The goal is to create a new eco-system of safe, secure, transparent investment connections which quickly become a kind of gold standard in assurance and best practice.

I envision this as being useful at least as much for non-profits as for commercial companies, because a real concern is always that we want to know our money is getting to the people intended, to the projects intended, being used in the ways intended - whether by NGOs, charities, missions, government “development” projects or commercial businesses. Blockchain can remove game theoretic problems and paradoxes (eg when even “good” actors behave badly because they believe everyone else is), and have the potential to transform the landscape and governance - at all levels - within a generation. Imagine we could see all the records of the historic projects of contractors, we could lock funds and investments in audited smart contracts, could see the full trail of spending and any associated “paper-trails” (eg bids for sub-contracting, administration, etc), all payments. This would boost the level of trust and assurance and create an environment which would encourage best practices, improving standards for all across the continent wherever such systems were adopted.

The broader aim and vision is actually even grander: that such technologies can ultimately be used to fight and eventually eliminate corruption and distrust in organisations almost completely, by making transparent the flow and use of all operations and funding on publicly audit-able and immutable blockchains. I envisage this project as a starting point working towards this ultimate guiding goal. In a de-centralized world, our belief in Africa and Africans no longer needs to be held back by our disappointments in its terrible history of governance, international corporate takeover, or the (ongoing) legacy of colonialism and post-colonialism.

* I think it would be important to have both Africans and non-Africans inputting, so as to maintain perspectives from both inside and outside the continent.

(funding request guesstimate at this time, envisioning hiring of relevant people and research but I admit I also need help with this as it is out of my primary specialisation/skillset)