African technologists and entrepreneurs are applying blockchain in innovative ways, creating a new financial infrastructure for the continent with wide-ranging benefits, including for the humanitarian sector.
Through its Blockchain Ventures investment programme – supported by Ethereum Foundation and GSR Foundation – UNICEF Office of Innovation provides funding and technical assistance to emerging market startups building innovative blockchain-based solutions.
Unreliable and expensive internet access locks millions out of the digital economy, but as XMesh founder Benjamin Yan explains, blockchain could help equip ordinary people to act as a hyper-local connectivity provider and earn an income from their unused bandwidth.
What problem were you trying to solve when you came up with XOneFi?
I love adventure travelling and I use Starlink in remote areas. I was paying a fair amount of money for that service and I’d find that people around me also wanted to get online, but there was no way to share the connection and there was no way to charge people who want to use my internet, so that’s when I began thinking about a usage-based solution for sharing the internet.
How does XOneFi work?
Anyone with an internet connection can become a provider. They purchase their upstream connection, and then install an XOneFi-enabled router, set their rate and they are good to go.
Nearby customers can use their phones or computers to discover the network, purchase internet access by time or data usage, and the XOneFi firmware meters the session and automatically sends the payment from the customer to the provider.
Where does blockchain come in, and why is it essential?
The blockchain is valuable because we are facing an open network with many independent providers and customers who don’t know the infrastructure owners.
Blockchain is fully transparent, offers tamper-resistant usage accounting – so that providers and customers cannot cheat– and automated micro payments. If a customer is paying $4 a month, maybe every hour you are only paying several cents, which is a very small amount of money, and without blockchain we really cannot transact that.
How are prices set so they work for providers and customers?
We provide a default rate, but providers can adjust it based on their own payment for the internet. When the customer connects they see how much they need to pay and, if they agree, they click, and the transaction starts.
How does the connectivity gap you are bridging affect children and schools?
School administrators tell us connectivity issues are really a big problem: their internet is not reliable, the data rate is very low. Sometimes they cannot sustain a Zoom call or YouTube video, and you can’t even talk about coding or using AI. It is really a missed opportunity for the kids to get a better education, to get the opportunities that they want.
Why did you choose Nigeria to test XOneFi?
Nigeria is a growing economy with big cities and a large population of young people looking for opportunities. They want to utilise the digital economy to improve their living standards.
What is happening on the ground now?
We are running a pilot project at two Nigerian schools and planning to expand to community centres and business centres. Our chief financial officer and our director – both are women – are really moving things forward and identifying and solving challenges on the ground.
Looking ahead, what is your vision for connectivity and local digital economies?
The ultimate vision is that a child or any other user does not need to know where the connection comes from – whether it’s fibre, cellular, satellite or any other technology – but will be able to find an affordable network that they can use. For providers, they can operate their own access points, earn income and reinvest in the hardware to get a better connection. So, everyone has the opportunity to become a mini, hyper-local provider of connectivity, and everyone can get affordable and reliable internet.
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