Join the Middle East Blockchain Revolution!!Note: The following is intended to form a start-up company with a team of professionals. Continue reading if interested. AbstractThe Middle East is obviously a late comer to the blockchain technology and digital Bitcoin currency. Lack of awareness, government restrictions and difficulty of executing transactions contributed to the late adoption of blockchain technology. Unlike Europe, where governments are adopting and making use of the blockchain technology, some Governments in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region are not even aware of the technology, save for the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The MarketsandMarkets.com research firm claims that the Middle East blockchain technology market is expected to grow from USD 6.4 million in 2016 to USD 67.6 million in 2021, at a CAGR of 60.1% during the forecast period 2016-2021. One-third of the almost 3,000 executives surveyed are using or considering blockchain in their business, and 100 percent of those surveyed expect blockchain to support their enterprise strategy in some way. Few start-ups have been found so far in the MENA region in this industry, but they are not – yet – able to gather the required momentum to get the financial and industrial sectors to benefit from the technology. This presents a golden opportunity as the region is still in its nascent stage in blockchain and cryptocurrency. My intention out of this is to initiate a start-up in Dubai that offers multiple services and solutions to MENA governments, businesses, and the local citizen to benefit from blockchain technology and crypto assets. If you are an expert, professional, or a talented person with the potential of growth, and want to join the blockchain Middle East revolution with me, carry on reading.
Why the Middle East?Economically, two-thirds of the world's oil reserves and a quarter of the world's natural gas reserves sit in the MENA region, with the member states producing about a quarter of the world's petroleum. The oil industry dominates the economic structure, especially so in the countries surrounding the Arabian Gulf. The result of this wealth led to an influx of workers and immigrants to the Middle East as thousands of job opportunities in various fields were made available. Yet, the Middle East has always been politically unstable due mainly to its wealth. This ever-green conflict resulted in the region lacking advanced research and development centres in various industries, transforming the region into a big consumer rather than provider. The region also has one of the highest population growth in the world, an average of 3% annually. Governments, financial institutions and businesses in the region have always been chained with inefficiencies, bureaucracy and red tape to carry on simple civic, day-to-day transactions. Therefore, blockchain and crypto currencies could present the ideal solution to unlock the potential of the region.
Precisely, what are the opportunities?The start-up will provide solutions to Governments, financial institutions, businesses and local citizens in the blockchain and cryptocurrency arena. The following sectors are just examples of where we could start, but various sectors can be explored.
- Establishing a cryptocurrency online exchange. While there are already many online exchanges on the internet, most of them do not deal with countries in the Middle East or with their local fiat currencies. Wire transfers, deposits, withdrawals are highly restricted in the region due to those exchanges local jurisdictions. The intention is to create an exchange that abides by the local jurisdiction of UAE, but in the same expands to include not only Bitcoin, but other crypto currencies of demand. The exchange should be simple enough to attract many citizens of the Middle East since it will speak their language, while at the same time carries the required safety and security to protect its customers. Currently, only one exchange exists in the Middle East and trades only two cryptocurrencies.
- Establishing a remittance service to foreign workforce. The International Labour Organization (ILO), a U.N. agency dedicated to workers’ rights, estimates in 2015 that Arab countries hosted more than 32 million migrant workers in all, one-third of them women (domestic workers) coming from Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Indonesia, the Philippines and Ethiopia. In industries, such as the construction industry (remember Qatar World Cup!), migrant workers make up over 95 per cent of the work force in the Middle East. Now to the best part, Migrants in the Arab states remitted over USD 109 billion in 2015, with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates ranking second and third globally in terms of remittance outflow (after the USA). According to ArabianBusiness.com, in the UAE alone, for instance, money exchange companies’ independent study estimates that at least 80 percent of low-income workers remit most of their monthly income, averaging around $326. A very small minor share of this market could translate into hundreds millions dollars of business. The issue here is that most of these workers do not know about Bitcoin or crypto currency, hence they are being chopped high percentages of their hard-earned money by conventional financial institutions when they send money back home. Blockchain and Bitcoin could save them millions of dollars if they adopted it. We will intend to make their life easy to send money back home. For example, install Bitcoin ATMs close to their work camps where they can send money instantly back home (and we take our small cut). Establish agreements with their employers to perform automatic monthly transfers using blockchain and Bitcoin. The ideas are tremendous in this sector and the potential is huge.
- Provide consultancy services to Governments/businesses to get them into the blockchain. The point here is provide smarter and far more efficient services to the general public using blockchain. We will show various Government how blockchain could elevate the level of smart services they provide to their services. We will be the PwC of blockchain in the region, big potential. Since only the UAE has harnessed the blockchain, the start-up could take the lead in getting more Governments (i.e. customers) to benefit from the technology.
- Blockchain and the Oil industry. As mentioned in the beginning, when you talk about the Middle East, you talk about oil. The Oil industry here is huge, and billions of dollars spent every year in the upstream making sure oil is extracted none stop. Major oil companies have initiated a foundation called Energy Web Foundation to bring blockchain to the oil industry. Imagine the potential of being a leader in this field, and what this could mean to oil & gas companies in the Middle East. Imagine developing an open-source blockchain application for use in the energy sector that eventually could be commercialized for the thousands of oil & gas companies in the Middle East. If we tap into the upstream potential, utilizing blockchain to help link thousands of oil fields data scattered in different countries, it could provide a good medium to analyse and monitor data that could help in oil exploration.
- Logistics and the Supply Chain (The Halal industry?). In a recent piece at Harvard Business Review, Michael J. Casey and Pindar Wong observe that blockchain will produce "dynamic demand chains in place of rigid supply chains, resulting in more efficient resource use for all." I mentioned above that the Middle East is a giant consumer of goods, but an exporter of natural resources. This means the logistics and supply chain industry in the region is an integral part of the business and steadily growing to be faster and more efficient. In terms of the industry size, according to AlKhaleejtimes.com, The MENA transportation & logistics industry generated $73 billion in 2015. We all know how the blockchain can help in increasing supply chain efficiency, and we would want to grab a share of that market to assist logistics companies in doing so. When it comes to the Halal industry, there has been recent scandals about consumer goods in the F&B industry where it was claimed to be Halal certified but turned to be it was not. The blockchain supply chain can certify the authenticity of Halal consumer goods in open and transparent manner, where a general and trusted public ledger everyone can inspect is available to inspect transactions. The halal blockchain will have complete information about the addresses and supply chain paths right from sources to the point of consumer purchase. No one will be able to alter or cheat the system, and the consumer will trust the authenticity of the halal product they are taking. With our blockchain smart supply chain technology, we can present a good solution to the Halal industry and create that market instantly.
The above are some of the areas I intend for the startup to focus on. Needless to say, that each of the sectors above requires its own startup to handle. However, this is the beauty of a new technology in a virgin region; we will harness each sector one at a time. We will exploit the hunger of blockchain in these sectors to grow the size of the start-up at a high but steady pace.
Ok good. But how we gonna fund it?To start with, pls note this is not a get rich fast scheme. I know the first thing that comes to mind is an ICO. Maybe eventually one or several ICOs will be launched to help push a stream forward to establish a fully-fledged company. However, I have angel investor(s) (including myself) that will put the first one million dollars in the start-up immediately to finance the first 12-18 months. We expect the company in the first six months to launch its first project. If nothing happens after 18 months, but we are working on a breakthrough, we will seek further funding. Otherwise, we close shop and call it a day. In the Middle East, funding is not an issue if bright, serious people are behind it. ICOs have a bad reputation nowadays and require tough standards to launch a successful one. The start-up will be registered in Dubai and that’s where the HQ will be. Anyone would be working for the startup will need to relocate there. If you know nothing about Dubai, do some research. It’s a fantastic city with a business mentality. Mind you, according to thenational.ae, Dubai government agencies will soon start pilot projects based on Blockchain technology, with a series of services set to go live from early next year. Smart Dubai announced that it would design and build a shared Blockchain platform. Hence, the platform in Dubai is ready to launch the start-up. Soon once the dream team is mobilised, we will start with a white board to discuss how we gonna blow the blockchain wide open in the Middle East.
I come from the oil & gas industry, with 20 years’ experience in marketing and trading. I am a commodity trader (oil, mogas, mid distillates, etc), and have been trading bitcoin for six months. I have launched a successful start-up in India that makes iOS apps (iLifeTouch, it’s in the app store), and was involved in projects in the middle in different sectors (F&B, supply chain, health sector). I am in love with gadgets and technology and had my first computer in 1989 (at a time the PC was still not popular in the Middle East). I am an angel investor and love to create start-ups with a clear vision and wide imagination.
Ok, maybe I am in. What do you need?At the moment, I am looking for young talented people, with expertise in this industry, good coding background, to join us in this venture. Note I am not looking for people who want to punch time cards in the morning and get paid on a weekly cheque. I am looking for professionals with a passion for blockchain technology and want to create a change in the world, people who want to be eventually part of the company, aka shareholders, but will earn it through hard work and dedication. If you know the blockchain inside out, have some bright ideas about it but lack funding and leadership, want to get another shot in your career in a vibrant city such as Dubai, and most importantly like what you read above and think you can be an asset and make change, then I want you part of the team. Currently, I am looking for the following:
- Blockchain technology expert/leader: expert in blockchain, digital currencies, security protocol, system architecture. Potentially CEO.
- Blockchain & Ethereum developer, an expert in smart contracts.
- Fintech solutions & sales expert.
- Web developer
- Cryptocoin and online exchange expert, blockchain and trading manager.
- Marketing and Sales expert
If you like to join the revolution, pls send me a note,
info@btcoinme.com with a CV, but more importantly, I would like to know your ideas on the above and why you believe joining this opportunity is good for yourself and valuable for the project.
