We all want to be successful in life. Earn money, be happy, stay calm, have peace. In this race to achieve one's definition of happiness, it is only human to forget about others' existence and be only bothered about himself. The primary philosophy of feeling peace is to create peace. To feel happy is to create happiness. At Kora, a group of like-minded individual seek to give back to the society, and to find global monetary equality, making use of the hottest technology of the time, the blockchain technology.

The Scenario

Having its name taken from a popular musical instrument in Africa, Kora aims to help the underprivileged and the unbanked adults in various locations to be part of a global financial system, and enjoy the benefits of an evolved financial service. Primarily, this network aims to bring about the economic value and potential that is currently not unleashed due to various barriers that the underprivileged face, which are listed below.

Problems faced by the underserved

. Perception that the underserved hold very little value

"They're poor. What can they possibly contribute to the world economy?"

"10 Trillion dollars," according to Dickson Nsofor, CEO and Co-Founder, Kora Network. Major financial service providers including leading banks, often find it easier to ignore the large populations of people who are located in remote areas, and also areas with very low signs of economic development. This is predominantly because the operational cost of setting up their centres in such areas are considerably higher when compared to the monetary volumes that is going to be transacted there. This cost is mainly incurred by acquirement of the land and building for operations, setting up ATMs, appointing staffs, and also storing and updating data in real time. To balance all this cost with the low transaction volume, banks are forced to levy high processing fees, which has a negative impact on the bank's primary goal.

. Lack of identification

Not having a valid identification is a primary issue for adults to initiate any financial service, from opening a bank account to availing small scale loans. Obtaining an ID seems fairly simple, but deterrents like the physical distance that should be covered by individuals to avail the ID registration facility, which they have to do while compromising their daily labour, and then the costs incurred due to transportation, the registration fee, and the list goes on. The delay in the approval of registration is also an important factor contributing to low number of identified individuals.

. Lack of trust in technology

Trust is the basis of any relationship. Various instances where people who are not that aware of technology and the magnitude of its advancement were cheated by scams and fraud schemes has created the general notion that technology is manly used as a veil for conducting fraud. This leads to the complete ignoring of latest trends like mobile money, cryptocurrencies, etc. primarily out of fear.

. Lack of financial literacy

Most underserved people lack proper education about finances and the different services, and hence they end up making poor financial choices and decisions. As mentioned earlier, this lack of knowledge makes them invest in scams and Ponzi schemes, which in turn affects their confidence to invest further. Surveys have shown that 66% of the population of Zambia did not know the basic services like ATM's, balance enquiry and debit cards usage.

The Kora Network

"What is the Kora Network? "

"How does it solve the above mentioned issues? "

"How would Kora build an inclusive financial system?"

The Kora network is a blockchain that gives an opportunity for everyone to avail the financial services that exist currently. It aims to free and unleash the untapped economic potential through community owned ecosystems. It uses the blockchain technology to store transactions and to circulate capital within its communities. Kora aims to work alongside the existing solutions to financial exclusions, namely banks, local ad hoc networks (like local moneylenders), mobile money, and other blockchain initiatives that support similar causes.

Kora's primary aim is to provide a low cost , self-sustaining and community owned financial service system, which is available to everyone across the globe without being limited by their financial

background or their access to technology, and also to be compliant with the existing communities so as to merge and operate without causing a disruption in the present system.

Functioning

Kora would use eFiat, and its native cryptocurrency known as Kora Network Token (KNT) for its transactions. This is mainly because most of the underserved population dislike and mistrust the concept of digital currency, so using eFiat can enable harnessing the ease of using the digital currency while also ensuring trust of the national currency. The access to Kora maybe through SMS, or USSD, so it takes away the plight of owning a smartphone to access the network.

The four pillars

User

Anyone who uses the Kora Network is a user, and are people who want to levy the services from the network. Their access to the network might be limited to factors like availability of internet, or not holding the native cryptocurrency to transact within the network.

Provider

A provider may be a bank, a group of banks, mobile money platforms, or any financial service provider who can provide the necessary financial services whilst meeting the regulatory frameworks and requirements. They are also responsible for the KYC completion and bringing in users.

Agent

Agents are the people who convert between the eFiat currency and physical cash. They are mainly small businesses who constantly acquire cash, like small convenience stores. Agents get a commission for each conversion they carry out at their stores.

Merchants

The concept of people trusting eFiat is not plausible unless there are commodities that can be bought or services that can be availed using eFiat. Merchants are businesses which accept eFiat, and hep to further enhance the confidence that the locals have over eFiat.

The concept of CVN

Community Value Networks (CVN) are existing social groups within localities, like self-help groups, savings groups or trade unions. CVN's are useful to Kora in many ways – operating through CVN's ensure that existing groups and practices are not disrupted. They help in identification of users within a locality. CVN's also act as a money pooling platform which can later be used for lending.

CVN's are managed by Delegates , who are chosen in some method, maybe democratically, and they have the primary authority over the pooled funds, and choosing how to distribute and make use of the pooled funds.

Importance of blockchain

The Kora Network saves up on the cost of building a full-fledged financial service system, by abstracting the infrastructure to a blockchain. Blockchain helps the users to be more identified and have the network accessible to them more by accumulation of various transactions using whatever ID's they provide. The power of decentralisation is the primary key here; decentralisation shifts the power to the users of the network and provides complete transparency.

The Kora Network Token (KNT)

The native token for the Kora Network is the Kora Network Token , and it is the primary medium to pay the costs incurred via the Kora Network. Each transaction done in the network has a fee levied, which is paid to the block producer, who shares it among himself and all the stakers who had voted for him.

Token sale

The goal of the token sale is to make the network decentralized to the maximum extent. The token sale is divided into two stages, the pre-sale and the public sale. During the pre-sale, the minimum amount of investment is $5000, whereas there is no minimum for the public sale, but the maximum investment from a unique identity is capped at $1 million. All investments are accepted via bitcoins or ethereum.

The price of one KNT is $0.10, and the total supply is capped at $24 million. The pre-sale started on 5 th of March 2018, and is live till 25th March.

Final Verdict

The Kora Network is an exciting new blockchain project, and is one of a kind. The network aims to provide an inclusive financial system, to unleash the untapped economic potential of the financially underserved population. This project, being technologically advanced, also gives great value to human equality in terms of finance and lifestyle. Having incubated from real life experiences of CEO Dickson Nsofor, Kora is sure to be a life changer to a large portion of our population, and will help them to be empowered and financially stable. The fact that this project is going to mainly benefit people who have probably never heard of Kora, and probably never will read this article, makes it even more special!

References

1. Official Website - KORA
2. KNT information - ICO Bench
3. Kora Network Whitepaper
4. Kora Network Vision paper
5. Official YouTube Channel, Kora Network

Published by dannywhelan

Profile - https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=1606458