Blockchain is being adapted for election usage elsewhere in the world, and could provide the answer to making voting more transparent in Africa.
Kenyan elections are notoriously tricky affairs, usually with disputed results and occasionally with accompanying violence.Other African elections often descend into chaos, as most recently seen in Zimbabwe, but in blockchain, the open, distributed ledger most commonly associated with bitcoin, a solution may have been found.
Earlier this year, presidential elections took place in Sierra Leone. During the vote, Swiss foundation Agora used blockchain to record votes in more than 300 polling centers. As blockchain records transactions in a verifiable and permanent way, it is almost impossible to alter. Therefore, by recording votes on it, elections in theory become more transparent.
This greater transparency could be pivotal to ensuring more effective democracy and calmer elections across Africa, where disputes over votes are common. Kenya looks set to become the next country to test the benefits, with the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Chairman Wafula Chebukati saying it would utilize blockchain in the next elections.
<a href="https://www.forbesafrica.com/entrepreneurs/2018/09/03/building-blockchain-tech-with-the-world-as-their-official-address/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: Building Blockchain Tech With The World As Their Official Address</a>
What impact could it have? Michael Kimani is Chairman of the Blockchain Association of Kenya, and he says that will depend on how it is used.
“From my experience, any deployment of distributed ledger technology could be at one of three points in the electoral system – the main server where voter registration data is held, the national tallying center where all information from across the country is collated, and the tallying centers where group representatives take part in a tallying process,” he says.
Wherever and however the IEBC chooses to employ blockchain, electoral laws would have to be changed to accommodate it. Kimani also says it’s worth keeping in mind that the technology itself is still nascent.
“Beyond cryptocurrency, there hasn’t been any deployment at scale,” he says. 
Nevertheless, Kimani believes the IEBC statement is a positive starting point, and that using blockchain could have a significant impact on reducing fraud.
<blockquote>“The concept of a distributed ledger for processes that were previously limited to a single entity would provide significant improvements for the whole process,” he says.</blockquote>
“The concept of a distributed ledger for processes that were previously limited to a single entity would provide significant improvements for the whole process,” he says.
“I am less concerned about the technology itself. It really boils down to man-made specifications that can be implemented. I see potential problems in setting up the necessary governance structures required to make it a reality. There are some things the technology can do, but the rest of it is really up to humans – the laws we set up, the institutions we set up, the audit processes we set up to check on the technology where it fails, and the dispute resolution structures we set up.”
Challenges remain. Yet, blockchain is being adapted for election usage elsewhere in the world. It has been piloted in elections by the state of West Virginia in the United States, while tech firm Kaspersky Lab has built a platform that utilizes it for voting.
Alexey Malanov, a malware expert at Kaspersky Lab, says it is the next logical step on from online voting, which has been used in countries such as Estonia in northern Europe.
“Online voting can be highly beneficial for modern society – it has the potential to make voting easier, cheaper and more convenient. In the modern, efficiency-driven, mobile world, various limitations of offline voting have become apparent: it’s expensive, time-consuming and often inaccessible – or at least challenging for people who aren’t physically present to cast a vote,” he says.
<div id="attachment_37733" style="width: 210px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-37733" class="size-medium wp-image-37733" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Alexey-Malanov-200x300.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="300" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Alexey-Malanov-200x300.jpg 200w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Alexey-Malanov-300x450.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Alexey-Malanov-600x900.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Alexey-Malanov-768x1151.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Alexey-Malanov-683x1024.jpg 683w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Alexey-Malanov.jpg 1366w" sizes="(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px" />Alexey Malanov</div>
“Online voting can help overcome these challenges, but this brings several uncertainties of its own: how to properly secure the process and how to make sure that the votes aren’t changed or altered by an external or internal party.”
Usage of blockchain technology for general elections, however, is not reasonable at the moment, he says.
“It’s quite a slow technology. A public blockchain processes 10 transactions per second, [which] is not enough to ensure voting for millions of citizens within one day,” Malanov says.
However, Kaspersky Lab is sure blockchain has vast potential yet to be uncovered, with its Business Incubator team exploring opportunities for secure implementation of blockchain for commercial use, and how its transparent, incorruptible and trusted characters could benefit areas beyond cryptocurrencies.
“We saw a great market opportunity and decided to support an experimental and promising project called Polys. It’s a secure online voting system based on blockchain technology and backed by transparent crypto-algorithms,” Malanov says.
“From the user’s perspective, it consists of a web service through which to organize voting and cast a vote, using a mobile phone or tablet. As in any vote, there are several key requirements that would make online voting trusted and secure – transparency of the process, anonymity of a voter and their confidence that their vote won’t be altered in favor of a candidate or option they didn’t choose.”
Blockchain-based programs like Polys provide all this, and it’s surely only a matter of time before we start seeing them used in African elections
&#8211; Tom Jackson

Blockchain At The Polls?

We need to start running this country differently,” says Arunma Oteh.
The journalists scribble and the cameras flash. Then Oteh accuses the chairman of the House of Representatives of the Nigerian Capital Market of corruption and unaccountability. This was the 2012 public inquiry into the near collapse of the Nigerian Capital Market.
Oteh has been the director general of the Nigerian Securities Exchange Commission since January 2010. She believes there are no sacred cows in the dispensation of justice.  This conviction has driven the reformation of the Nigerian Capital Market.
“I was brought up to always stand up for the right thing, even if it means standing alone. For me, it was standing up for the right thing in spite of the costs. I was angry that a system that is so well endowed was being led irresponsibly. I have had the power to make choices over the years – we all do. I have always chosen excellence over anything else. I had built an international career, reputation and standing for 22 years anchored on this. I knew there would be risks that I would be misunderstood, but I also felt the benefits to society far outweighed any costs attached for me.
“If I didn’t do it, who would?”
It was one of many questions Oteh pondered upon her appointment, and in her role as chief regulator of Nigeria’s Stock Exchange.
“I wanted to contribute my own bit to realizing Nigeria’s potential. I believed Nigeria was a well-kept secret that was often misunderstood in terms of its opportunities and potential. There wasn’t a good understanding of the role the capital markets played in transforming the economy – I was prepared to change this,” she says.
With a vocabulary peppered with words like transparency, good governance and accountability, Oteh fought market rigging, the pumping and dumping of shares, and wash sales. She steered the Nigerian Capital Market towards demutualization and capital adequacy.
“I was bent on creating a broader understanding of the value of a world-class, functioning capital market in the transformation of the economy. Wealth is in very few hands. What the capital market does is to create an opportunity for fairer equitable wealth distribution. This can only happen under a thorough structure. I wanted to set an indelible example for the Nigerian public sector. Integrity is so crucial while developing this framework, however, and it was important to rebuild investors’ trust and confidence in the system again,” says Oteh.
This is nothing different from how Oteh normally operates. As a high school student she wanted to become an inventor, but graduated in computer science from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Her first corporate job involved being responsible for corporate finance at a stockbroking firm. She completed her MBA at Harvard Business School and worked for the Harvard Center for International Development. In 1992 she joined the African Development Bank (AfDB) as a senior capital investment officer and group treasurer, responsible for fund raising and investments in international capital markets. Oteh was appointed vice president for corporate management at AfDB in 2006.
How does one keep this track record? Oteh believes she has happened upon the right opportunities. She wants more women to access these structures.
“I think a lot of women have exceeded expectation in Africa, in terms of commitment and approach to their jobs.”
Oteh believes the challenge lies in women being equally involved at different levels of decision making. Girl must have access to the same opportunities as boys, so these opportunities are later present in the workplace. Creating a meritocracy in the workplace, where the best suited and qualified individual gets the job, is vital. Successful women should focus on developing upcoming leaders. Women should pave the way for younger women to climb the corporate ladder, through mentorship and coaching. Oteh wants to develop the entrepreneurial spirit among women.
“A number of women helped and supported me in my journey too. They believed in me and instilled the notion that the sky is the limit. You can really go as far as you want to go in life.”
Women also face a lack of access to finance. These are economic issues that act as deterrents to the growth of the economy.
“I believe when given the right opportunities, women excel at their respective roles,” says Oteh.
She has won the admiration of many, especially after ruffling a few feathers, but Oteh faced much resistance in the reformation she championed.
“Some people preserve the status quo because of the benefits the status quo has for them – we can change that. There are no countries that have taken the bold steps we have made in the financial sector in the last few years. It was interesting to see the public opinion on this too. I think people realize that Nigerians are good people who like the right things to be done. I think we just need to stand up more for what is right,” she says.
Her resilience and cutthroat decision-making have earned her the title of the Iron Lady.
“This is not a negative tag for me. The only other person I remember being called that, was Margaret Thatcher, and I found her to be a bold, decisive transformer, who influenced the UK economy positively. She fought fiercely against the status quo. So, if leading change, being passionate, resilient and decisive about a great course is what makes me an Iron Lady, then I proudly raise my hand up high to that tag.”
The Nigerian Stock market crashed from a peak of N12.6 trillion ($78.7 billion) in March 2008 to N4 trillion ($25 billion) in 2009. It has recovered since and closed at N13 trillion ($81.2 billion) in late 2013.
Oteh did not become an inventor, but she is re-inventing a system that was once tainted.

The Iron Lady Who Stood Alone

How times have changed. When I covered my first African Development Bank annual meeting nearly 20 years ago, development conversation was often dominated by apartheid—how the last bastion of white rule was impeding the progress of the continent.
Dominant, too, were the other issues frustrating African progress: political instability in the west and east; soldiers in power; corruption; poor governance; poverty etc. Back then aid flows were certainly bigger than foreign direct investment; fewer countries boasted positive real growth rates, let alone expansion at near double digits; elections were at a premium and even rarer—peaceful change in government. It was so dark that five years later The Economist magazine weighed in with its now infamous ‘Hopeless Africa’ moniker.
Now, not only do opposition parties assume power from a ruling party like they did in Zambia last year but you can count on your two hands, the number of countries where democratic elections have become the norm. According to The Economist, all but Mauritius peacefully changed a government or president at the ballot box in the three decades since independence in the 1960s. However, once Benin set the trend in 1991, it has happened more than 30 times.
“We are here to tell the world: African investment opportunities are the ‘low hanging fruit’, part of the solution to today’s global problems,” said Donald Kaberuka, the head of the African Development Bank, at the opening ceremony of the 2012 meetings.
Global consultancy McKinsey &amp; Company in its much lauded Lions on the Move research says 27 of the continent’s 30 biggest economies have been expanding at a faster pace since 2000. These days, The Economist says that between 2010 and 2011, seven of the world’s 10 fastest growing economies were African.
The reforms of the 1990s—the same ones The Economist didn’t see—are beginning to pay off. To be fair they did change tune—in December 2011, that headline had changed to ‘The Hopeful Continent’. The reforms bore fruit at a most opportune time with the rise of the dragons in the east—China and India—happening at the same time that Europe began to decline. All this, illuminated Africa’s investment credentials.
“I have no doubt in my mind that Africa is poised to become the world’s new economic powerhouse for the 21st century,” says Tanzanian president, Jakaya Kikwete. “With its endowment in both natural and human resources, the pursuit of sound economic policies, and with democracy, good governance, respect for the rule of law and human rights being entrenched, nothing will stop Africa from getting there.’’
The 2012 meetings demonstrated just how far Africa has come. It was hosted by Tanzania’s tourism capital, Arusha, at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro. The theme was taking advantage of the here and now; ‘Africa and the Emerging Global Landscape:
Challenges and Opportunities’. Over five days, seminars, bilateral discussions and workshops discussed everything from the lessons learnt from civil wars, droughts and food security to good financial governance. Here was the evidence, if any more was needed, that Africa’s time has come. The bank’s financials themselves tell the story. While the bank was near collapse in 1995, the AfDB’s financial health is now strong. It remains Africa’s sole AAA-rated institution by all three global rating agencies—meaning it can borrow at lower costs than France, Spain and Portugal.
Last year it approved $5.66 billion in loans, grants and equity investments etc., up 42% from the prior year. But the bank’s value cannot be measured in the money it lends alone. It is an important player in building African institutional capacity and technical capacity which plays a role in fragile states and is also helping the continent to achieve food security. In short, the mandate has moved beyond the original focus on infrastructure envisaged by its founding fathers in 1963.
But caution remains a watchword for Kaberuka, who is now serving his second and last term.
“There are heavy dark clouds on the horizon—the lagged effects of the recession in Europe, the uncertainty about how the BRICs will fare in 2012, and hence the implication for investment flows and demand for our exports. Also, in 2008 when the financial crisis was at its apex, Africa was in a much stronger position to withstand the external shocks. This time round, the resilience is not as robust, the shock absorbers, the fiscal space is weaker,” says Kaberuka.
However, with projections of a near doubling of the continent’s combined GDP to $2.6 trillion by 2020, with consumer spending forecast to increase by 62% to $1.4 trillion over the same period, in key sectors like consumer products, construction, telecoms, financial services and mining; it’s hard to temper optimism that the diamond in the rough may be ready to shine.
“While Africa’s challenges are well-documented, there is an increasing recognition that the continent is on an upward trajectory; economically, politically and socially,” says Ernst &amp; Young in its 2011 Africa attractiveness survey.
From hopeless to hopeful, I wonder what The Economist’s headline will be a decade from now?

Tag: governance

FORBES AFRICA SOCIAL MEDIA

Blockchain At The Polls?

The Iron Lady Who Stood Alone

From Hopeless To Hopeful