The African nation of Ethiopia decided to explore blockchain technology in the form of Cardano. According to a tweet by Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson, Ethiopia has formalized an agreement with the Ethiopian Ministry of Science and Technology. Per the agreement, the blockchain-based Cardano platform will be utilized in the nation’s Agritech industry.
Just signed an MOU with the Ethiopian Ministry of Science and Technology to explore training blockchain developers and use Cardano in the Agritech Industry pic.twitter.com/r06W0RSZye
— Charles Hoskinson (@IOHK_Charles) May 3, 2018
As noted in the tweet above, a memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed between the parties. It appears that Cardano is planning to help the Ethiopian economy and its workforce by “training blockchain developers”. Notably, the GDP of Ethiopia has been rising steadily and recorded an all-time high of $72.37 billion in 2016. Based on several reports, the developing country has one of the fastest-growing economies in the world.
No Official Start Date Set for Blockchain Collaboration
No specific date has been announced at this time for Cardano’s planned collaboration with Ethiopia. Cardano plans to launch a decentralized blockchain-based network that will have its own version of smart contracts. The crypto-platform has been developed by Hoskinson after he decided to part ways with the Ethereum and Ethereum Classic projects.
Hoskinson’s project has been criticized by EOS founder Daniel Larimer and a few others in the crypto space. However, Hoskinson has been quite adamant and focused with the development of Cardano. In fact, the research team behind the platform revealed a new proof-of-stake algorithm for the Cardano blockchain during the Eurocrypt conference held in Israel.
No Real Commitment By Cardano
MOUs are not legally binding, so this collaboration can be called off at any time. There are also not many details regarding this planned project available at this time. However, John O’Connor, Director of African Operations at IOHK (Cardano’s parent organization), stated that an agritech platform that will use Cardano’s blockchain should be launched by the end of this year.
This development happens to be among several other recent partnerships between crypto-related organizations and world governments. Crypto Globe recently reported the signing of an MOU between cryptocurrency exchange Binance and Bermuda. Similar to this initiative by Cardano, the MOU aims to help the local workforce of Bermuda by creating more crypto-related jobs for its residents.
