Sierra Leone, United Nations to Develop Blockchain Digital ID System

Wednesday, October 3, 2018

Two of the United Nation’s wings are joining hands with Sierra Leone government to build a blockchain-based ID system for their seven million people.

The UN Capital Development Fund (UNDCF) and the UN Development Programme (UNDP) have entered into a partnership with  Kiva, a technology nonprofit. Kiva will lend its institutional protocol of the same name to implement the “Credit Bureau Of The Future.” It would allow Sierra Leone citizens to have complete and secure ownership of their identities, similar to blockchain assets in a decentralized network like that of Bitcoin.

Kiva was working without blockchain for over 13 years. And even without the distributed ledger, the nonprofit managed to crowdfund more than $1.2 billion in loans for people in more than 80 countries. Their Kiva protocol is a new step in the direction of enabling advanced banking access to the unbanked, beginning with Sierra Leone, which is in a dire need for these innovations. Xavier Michon, Deputy Executive Secretary of UNCDF, agreed.

Photo courtesy of Christian Ditaputratama.

Source: CCN (link opens in a new window)

Categories
Finance, Technology
Tags
blockchain, digital identity, financial inclusion, global development