Technology is like a big fish with many tiny bones inside it. It has many layers and one of such layers is the Blockchain. It is one of the latest technology trends anyone can think of.
Sadly, technology trends will always elude developing nations like ours. Just imagine these technology trends- ecommerce, data science, web development, artificial intelligence etc. you and I all know the reason. Infrastructural backwardness, yes, that’s the reason.
Now, everybody is talking about Artificial Intelligence (AI). Most of our indigenous banks were somewhat quick to adopt AI technology. And this technology is paying off. Customers are becoming happier than ever. The truth remains that most companies in Nigeria still need to deploy that technology.
That being said, another technology that is making headlines is the Blockchain technology. In fact, Bitcoin is what is driving the popularity of this technology. Even secondary school students now talk about Bitcoin (cryptocurrency).
But the technology behind crypto-trading remains a mystery to many Nigerians. We have coders in Nigeria who understand programming languages. But a few can actually develop a Blockchain network. In fact, the programmers we have today are still gnashing their teeth. And these are hot brains who should be earning six figures.
The question is – how many Blockchain coders do we have in Nigeria? I don’t know. But in Lagos, which is the Silicon Value of Africa, arguably. How many do we have? We don’t have up to 10 Blockchain coders. I doubt if we do.
This figure could debated though. But at least one of the most influential technology interviewer who appears on the screen supports this. CFA, gets technology experts on a TV show (Tech Trends) mostly every week. He has had the privilege to interview a few Blockchain experts. Maybe one, at most two Blockchain experts.
Just last week someone approached CFA and said. “CFA, I think we should organize a Blockchain training.” Without mincing words, CFA said. “I am not sure if we have to up 10 Blockchain developers…”This doesn’t justify the figure either. But the truth is that from what we have seen in the ecosystem. It is doubtful to say we have to 10 Blockchain developers.
However, knowing how to use the technology is different from building or developing the technology. We have a few Nigerians who understand how to use the Blockchain technology. Then, what do we do about building the technology for national interest or any other objective?
I will not bore you with the significances of leveraging the Blockchain. But it has a lot. One thing is clear. This technology is going to make some big changes in the way business is done.
Knowing or learning how to develop this technology to many Nigerians sound like a rocket science. It might be so, especially for someone who can’t write any line of code. But it can be learnt just like you learn anything else on the web.
According to Blockchain experts at Hyperledger Community Architect Tracy Kuhrt: “While software developers tend to be the ones who sign up for Blockchain courses. You don’t have to be a coder to glean business-oriented knowledge of the distributed ledger technology or even learn to create Blockchain networks for your company.”
Just know this. Blockchain technology is somehow in depth. Just like as we have different programming languages for web development. For instance, we have Solidity. It is a Blockchain programming language for creating smart contracts (self-executing scripts).
We have the Hyperledger Composer. This is an open-source version of Blockchain based on JavaScript. This one could be very interesting because it has a REST API. This means that – it allows non-developers and developers to create business networks.
Like I mentioned, we have multiple programming languages that will aid you in the process of learning. It is however, dependent on your areas or area of focus. If you are interested in building a Blockchain technology for cryptocurrency ( still depends on the type of cryptocurrency). Focus on top programming languages. I can’t list them here, just google it and start.
Further, I would suggest focusing on “C++”. You can learn this online or by using a few beginner books. Study this as much as you can. After that, I suggest you start experimenting with compatible programming launguages. Such as Node, JS, Python, Perl etc.
