Kenyan Distributed Ledgers and Artificial Intelligence Chairman Suggests Tokenizing Local Economy

Bitange Ndemo Calls For A Tokenized Kenyan Economy

The Kenyan Distributed Ledgers and Artificial Intelligence task force chairman Bitange Ndemo has already been in the international limelight for being a champion of the blockchain space. Recently, he made more news by recommending that the Kenyan government should tokenize the economy.

The taskforce was established in March by the government of the Republic of Kenya in order to evaluate proposals on how to deploy blockchain technology in the public sector. The working group consists of local blockchain startups, experts, researchers, regulatory bodies, lawyers and other associated parties.

Earlier this month, Ndemo spoke at the Seamless event 2018 to discuss these developments and what they have been able to do so far. Some of the key developments in the taskforce agenda has been recommendations for the government on how to apply the blockchain to streamline services. While the government is not open to disclosing what it is undertaking, we believe most of what the chairman highlighted is already under development. Other developments included track and trace of the supply chain for imports and exports, the creation of a single identity, creation of a local crypto and a regulatory sandbox.

Earlier this week, speaking at an Information and Communication Technology Ministry (ICT) stakeholders meeting with the private sector, Ndemo affirmed that the government should consider tokenization of the economy in order to deal with increasing rates of corruption and uncertainties. This move, according would have the government print less hard currency. The chairman said:

“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.”

In addition, Ndemo stated that the adoption of tokens could reduce unemployment levels, outlining the necessity of issuing a digital currency equivalent to a fiat currency. The ICT Principal Secretary Jerome Ochieng said that the government will develop relevant policies to prepare for the recommendations suggested by the taskforce.