The Blockchain Nigeria User Group (BNUG) has announced the itinerary of its conference for 2020. The group which is popular for its yearly conferences and other events around the African blockchain community has this time chosen to host a virtual conference instead of the usual physical gathering that is usually held in major cities.
The conference for this year, tagged “BLOCKDefi Virtual Conference and Exhibition 2020” is understandably a virtual event as a result of the current global realities, situated by the Covid-19 pandemic. This will replace the originally scheduled traditional conference that was slated for May 2020 in Lagos, Nigeria ahead of the Covid-19 breakout. This however takes nothing away from the standards of the events. On the contrary, it provides a flexible program and opportunity for everyone to attend, no matter their location.
In a press release, the Founder and Coordinator of BNUG, Chimezie Chuta outlined the schedule and content of the event. According to the press release, this year’s conference and exhibition event will be held on the 12th and 13th of September 2020 on the 2D Airmeet platform from 10am(GMT+1)
For this year’s event, the keynote address will be delivered by Dr. Obiageli Ezekwesili, Senior Economic Advisor, Africa Economic Development Policy Initiative (AEDPI).
Dr. Ezekwesili was Vice-President of the World Bank’s Africa division and is former Nigerian Minister of Education, Minister of Solid Minerals, and a Presidential candidate in Nigeria’s last general elections. She has been a strong advocate of due process, transparency, and accountability in governance, of which she sees blockchain technology as a necessary tool for Africa’s economic transformation.
The theme for this year’s event is “Unpacking Blockchain and the potentials of alternative, open trustless finance in building the foundations of financial self-sovereignty in Africa!” This will inform modules that will cover such areas as blockchain protocols making significant impacts, layer 2 technologies of Bitcoin — Lightning Network, Ethereum layer 2 scaling solutions, distributed file system, and other decentralized web technologies.
Already confirmed as resource persons for this event are Elizabeth Stark, CEO and Olaoluwa Osuntokun, CTO both Chief Executives at Lightning Labs, Christian Roesch, Head Africa Operations, at Kinesis Money, Ali Hussein Kassim, Co-Founder & CEO at Kipochi, Nairobi Kenya, Emomotimi Agama, Deputy Director and Head Registration, Exchanges, Market Infrastructures and Innovation Department at SEC Nigeria, Carmelle Cadet, founder & CEO, EMTECH, and several others as speakers and keynotes for the conference.
Regarding the importance of this event, here is what Chuta has to say;
We believe that Africa needs blockchain technology, more than blockchain needs Africa!
Since 2017, this is the 9th edition of this conference which has been held across major cities in Nigeria which includes Lagos, Abuja and Portharcourt. The BNUG remains one of the conferences that has attracted the largest variety of experts and key players in the blockchain industry across the African region.
Among the sponsor’s of this year’s event includes Paxful.com as the main event Sponsor, with premium support from Binance.com, Tezos Foundation, Kinesis.money, Conflux Network, and FTX.com. Events during the conference will cut across Keynotes, Presentations, Panel discussion segments, Networking, and product Exhibitions.
Participation is free for everyone, but you must register using the following link: https://www.airmeet.com/e/9c836320-e93b-11ea-8616-b3016fb86143
This year’s event has been planned with rich content and is expected to connect entrepreneurs, developers, liquidity providers, finance advisors, Bankers, different blockchain node operators, academics, investors, economists, regulators, and others who are looking to learn and network in the blockchain & decentralized finance industry and explore the current opportunities and challenges in the space.