Saudi Blockchain Start-up Expands Its Operations in Africa

IR4Lab, a Saudi Arabia-based blockchain start-up of Aramco, decided to expand its operations in North Africa.

During Gitex Africa, held in Morocco from May 31 to June 2, IR4LAB said its decision to open new businesses in Africa is part of its commitment to enhance innovation in deep technologies and implement use cases utilizing IR4LAB’s Blockchain solution, DocCerts, according to Zawya.

CTO and Co-Founder of IR4LAB Mohamed El Kandri, who made the announcement, noted that he believes that the African digital economy would grow and his company seeks to be part of this growth in innovation and digitization, therefore the start-up began from Morocco to the whole Africa.

“We are happy to be expanding into the African market. We believe that Africa’s digital economy will grow and we want to be part of this growth in innovation and digitization, but also building local capabilities right from Morocco to Africa,” Kandri said.

He also asserted the importance of the role played by blockchain in the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the benefits offered by blockchain in the industrial domain.

Meanwhile, CEO and Co-Founder of IR4LAB Majd Al Afifi underlined: “More and more blockchain entities are setting up base in Africa, but we are glad that IR4LAB will be the first from Saudi Arabia to do so with the support of our leadership.”

Mckinsey & Company expected that Africa’s digital economy would record $712 billion by 2050 fostered by its youthful population, smartphone adoption, and internet penetration.

It is worth mentioning that the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia, the Saudi sovereign wealth fund, started investing in several Web3-related venture capital (VC) companies over the past months.