Africa and the Middle East
Welcome to our weekly roundup of all important blockchain and cryptocurrency news from around the world. Follow the latest developments in the cryptocurrency space continent by continent, country by country.
Uganda
Ugandan prince partners with blockchain wallet company: Prince Kudra of the Ugandan territory of Buganda is reportedly partnering with cryptocurrency wallet company CleanPath Emerging Markets (CPEM) and the Ugandan Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development to create a new payment infrastructure project in the country.
The project will be launched through South African startup Wala and its native token DALA will fuel the system. Energy customers are expected to pay, borrow, receive and transact using the decentralized system using DALA tokens.
Kenya
Nairobi professor advises government to move to tokenized economy: A Nairobi-based associate professor has advised the government to tokenize the entire economy.
Dr Bitange Ndemo is one of the strongest advocates of blockchain technology in the country. He told local newspaper The Star:
“We must begin to tokenize the economy by giving incentives to young people to do things which they are paid through tokens that can be converted to fiat currency.”
Ndemo is a doctorate in Industrial Economics from University of Sheffield and and also an MBA from St Thomas, Minnesota. He has also worked with the government as secretary of the Ministry of Information before eventually quitting to work in the academic field.
Turkey
Istanbul to host Blockchain Economy Summit: The first Blockchain Economy Istanbul Summit will take place in Turkey this year from 20 February 2019. The meeting will be the biggest of its kind in the region and various issues related to blockchain and cryptocurrency will be discussed.
Turkey is becoming a popular destination of cryptocurrency and blockchain projects because of its focus on alternative technologies. Over 5,000 attendees are expected to attend the event from over 20 countries. In addition, some 10,000 people are believed to be planning to attend.
Israel
Israel securities regulator to use blockchain for secure internal messaging: The Israeli Securities Authority (ISA) has announced that it has implemented a decentralized ledger technology to secure its internal messaging systems.
The government agency does sensitive work and is involved in regulatory efforts for capital markets and securities. The new blockchain system has been named Yael, according to the Times of Israel, and was done to ensure the credibility of information in the body’s jurisdiction.
The ISA said: “The technology verifies the messages’ authenticity, prevents fraud, and prevents them from being edited or deleted. Additionally, the system prevents the option of denying that a message was received from the ISA.”
Blockchain company Taldor has been employed to complete the integration of the messaging service by the agency. Israel is one the most forward-thinking countries in the world in blockchain technology but it is facing issues in adopting cryptocurrencies as the government is in a fix regarding its adoption.
United Arab Emirates
UAE to regulate crypto as securities: The Chairman of the Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA) Sultan Bin Saeel Al Mansouri has recently said that the SCA has approved a plan to recognize the legality of cryptocurrencies by designating them as securities. The SCA is also in the process of proposing a framework to regulate cryptocurrencies in the country including ICOs, exchanges and other blockchain projects.
While the move was welcomed by the crypto community, there is still some confusion regarding the matter as the agency had previously indicated that it will not regulate or recognize ICOs.
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