Blockchain Update from the Middle East & North Africa

Gerard October 25, 2019
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This is an excerpt from an email received from UNLOCK

The past two weeks have been filled with blockchain project announcements made either during Gitex Tech week 2019 or before and after. The MENA region, in particular, the GCC has been leading not only Blockchain implementation projects but also in the crypto regulatory scene. The UAE Securities and Exchange Authority has drafted the first crypto regulation draft and requested feedback before October 29th.

Government entities such as Dubai Police, UAE Ministry of Community and Development, AbuDhabi Digital Authority, Dubai Chamber of Commerce, Dubai Land Department, Abu Dhabi Municipality, Dubai Economy Department and more all launched blockchain projects.  In addition, the UAE Ministry of Community and Development launched a blockchain challenge

Increasingly it is the private sector in MENA region that is implementing blockchain projects.  Bank of Fujairah is working with Marco Polo on a Blockchain project. UAE Al Wathba insurance has also implemented a blockchain project with Addenda. Sofitel Hotel in Dubai has also implemented blockchain with LiquidPay. Another announcement came from Emaar Properties which launched their EMR loyalty token. While Du telecom in collaboration with Avanza Innovations launched Bank Trust Network. Even Finablr which is the holding company of UAE Exchange, a ripple partner has partnered with Samsung Pay

Liquefy also announced that it will be working with family offices on digital securities on a blockchain.

Even Kentech group is looking into blockchain implementation and District 2020, Expo2020 has announced a blockchain campus. UAE based AGTB Bank the first blockchain-enabled digital bank extends its service offering. SmartWorld also announced the development of Blockchain solution for digital certificates in education

But the growth of blockchain ecosystem in UAE is not just centered on implementation but also extends to investment as with DubaiCultiv8

Extending across the rest of GCC, Oman announced the launching of the first Blockchain crowdfunding platform, while the Swiss Arab bank launched its first digital asset services for cryptocurrencies. Even in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Aqarchain for real-estate tokenization signed an agreement with Kloudspot while Algorand Blockchain platform announced from Bahrain that it is now sharia-compliant.

Finally, while trust is the basic element in Blockchain, and given the current non-trust sentiment that has taken over the Lebanese scene, we published a piece that proposes how blockchain can restore trust between governments and its people with a focus on Lebanon as a use case.

For more information, contact GBA leaders

Source:  www.unlock-bc.com

Categories: Uncategorized
Gerard
Gerard has over 30 years of government, military, process improvement and quality assurance experience. He has traveled all around the world training, evaluating and assessing organizations for technical and management capabilities. He currently leads a global organization of government and industry blockchain professionals.

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