In our modern society, economic prosperity is directly inclined to technology. It is almost impossible to have something of economic value without technology playing a vital part in its value. With this being the kind of world, we find ourselves in, one would think it absurd to have an array of young people who are ignorant of technological opportunities around them that could result in economic prosperity. This absurdity unfortunately is the reality for a substantial percentage of the Ghanaian youths and this challenge thus provoked Young Africans for Opportunity (YAFO) in selecting the course for its 2022 opportunity summit. This year’s opportunity summit sought to open participants up to blockchain technology and the opportunities the blockchain industry presents.
The summit which took place on the 19th of November 2022 at the Methodist University Ghana, was organized by YAFO in collaboration with AAVE protocol. The event hosted three prominent speakers who did an excellent job of deconstructing unclear concepts around the history of money, introduction to blockchain, and then again going further to prove to participants the authenticity of the blockchain technology. The first speaker in the person of Mr. Peter Asare Nyarko, the executive director of the Center for Financial Literacy Education Africa (CFLE) spoke on the history of money. Being also a financial literacy advocate, his presentation educated participants on what money means and its place in society as a medium of exchange since time immemorial. He made participants understand that any object that possessed value can be classified as money and that money transcends beyond riches into wealth where systems are put in place to ensure consistent value creation. The financial guru dissected the concept of the evolution of money, stating systematic transformational stages money has gone through from the barter system to the commodity system and the paper system (fiat money) which was backed by the gold standard. He went ahead to touch on the fact that money as we know it is currently moving from the fiat state to a more technological facet where money is simply a number on a computer screen. He admonished participants to position themselves rightly to embrace this new digital currency system.
The second speaker for the day was Co-founder & Programs Manager of YAFO, Nathaniel Dwamena. As an individual who is knowledgeable in the blockchain space, Mr. Dwamena presented to participants the fundamentals of blockchain. Through his presentation, participants got to understand the concept of blockchain as a decentralized system that enables the recording of activities and digital assets. Types of blockchain systems like Binance, Bitcoin, Cardano, and Polkadot help connect and transfer money from one blockchain onto another blockchain at absolutely no fees. In the process of his delivery, Mr. Dwamena gave participants a feel of the blockchain by engaging them in interrupting and testing the incorruptibility of data in the blockchain space. Again, he spoke on blockchain opportunities the AAVE ecosystem provides to entrepreneurs in the form of flash loans where they give loans to entrepreneurs in exchange for cryptocurrency through smart contacts. He also encouraged participants to open a blockchain wallet integrated with the AAVE ecosystem to get access to the numerous opportunities the AAVE ecosystem provides including fundraising for ideas that feature digital solutions. However, these opportunities are not just limited to fundraising but then job creation for developers, marketers, and community evangelists.
Lastly, Mr. Peter Kwofie, Executive Director of the Institute for Liberty and Policy Innovation (ILAPI) addressed the group, making them understand the authenticity of cryptocurrency and the entire blockchain system. He explained that at the birth of crypto into the Ghanaian economy, a chunk of scammers took advantage of it and infiltrated the crypto space, and used it as a money laundering scheme and this has put a dent in the system’s reputation. He explained that cryptocurrency is simply a public blockchain that runs on a specific topography. He explained the topography of the crypto ecosystem, schooling participants on various stakeholders in the ecosystem and how they can safely navigate their activities in the crypto space to avoid falling prey to scammers. Through his presentation, the group was enlightened on scam operations like Ponzi schemes, sim scam fraud, and romance scams and how to avoid getting involved in such operations.
Participants were then allowed to engage the speakers in a questions and answers session where they had their doubts about the crypto ecosystem cleared. This was done after Barbera Ofosu, campus conveyer for YAFO spoke to participants about the works of YAFO as an organization, and the impact YAFO is making across campuses in Ghana and encouraged interested participants to sign up to be part of the YAFO campus hive.
The event was highly successful and YAFO yet again excelled at what they do best, which is bringing opportunities to the youth.
By
Benedicta Nelmon
