President Uhuru talks on country’s progress on Blockchain adoption at Chatham House in London

President Uhuru Kenyatta has addressed the progress the country is making towards the adoption of Blockchain technology.

He was speaking during a Q&A session at the ongoing Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting at Chatham House in London.

“Right now we are talking to number of people and equally we have our financial regulators-the Central Bank and others, who are equally quite concerned, which is not peculiar to Kenya and I think financial regulators across the globe are concerned about the impact of the block-chain and whether it can be regulated and what impact it can have on the overall financial markets and the money markets, and are we able to regulate it in a manner that is also not going to be used as a medium for illicit cash transfers,” he said.

He added that the Government was keen and was hoping within the next couple of months the Government will be able to be in a position where we can experiment and see whether Blockchain as technology can bear fruit, and help in many areas.

“We are quite innovative and quite eager to look at innovative ways that can enhance the use of technology to deliver services to people. We are not going to rule Blockchain out but we are going to continue working through, and am certain that once we’ve gone through our experimental stage, you will hear a bit more,” concluded President Uhuru Kenyatta.

The move by President Uhuru comes months after he directed the ministry of ICT to set-up a committee on Blockchain and Internet of Things technologies that will study the benefits and challenges associated with the latest digital innovation trends.

“We need to better understand the opportunities for Blockchain Technology, the risks of cybersecurity and the essential education and skills that our young people will need to make modern technology work for them,” said the President in an earlier event.

He said the country has been a leader in digital innovation and would not be left behind in the latest trends. To this end the Blockchain Taskforce has since been formed and is chaired by the former Permanent Secretary Ministry of ICT, Dr. Bitange Ndemo.

During the leaders’ roundtable meeting President Kenyatta is expected to speak on issues that are a priority for Kenya including promotion of inclusive growth and countering violent extremism and cyber security threats.

He has also called on partnership with other countries, challenging social media companies to be as responsive to the extremist threats aimed at Kenya, as they are those targeting Europe stating that this disdain for our freedom by the extremists transcends all borders.