Due to unreliable internet technology and low network penetration, Africa largely missed out on Web 1.0 and 2. 0. But this time, the continent seems well-placed to adopt and take full advantage of Web 3.0.

“Africa is ready for Web 3.0,” says Del Titus Bawuah, CEO of Lili Technologies and an early investor in Web 3.0. “Our youth are now educated and some in the diaspora are well-traveled and we have a consciousness as a continent about the power of Web 3.0 and not to mention mobile user penetration is averaging between 70 percent to 85 percent.” Combined, these factors have sparked the emergence of dozens of Web 3.0 start-ups across Africa.

This article breaks down Web 3.0, including its evolution, characteristics and components, and then explores how Web 3.0 will impact different sectors in Africa.

What's Web 3.0?

Web 3.0, commonly known as Web3, is the latest iteration of the web. To understand Web 3.0, it’s crucial to look at the evolution of the web over the years from Web 1.0 to Web 3.0.

• Web 1.0 (1989 to 2005)

Web 1.0 was the earliest version of the internet, an iteration experts referred to as the read-only web. It consisted of static web pages hosted by web servers, built to allow readers to access information only.

With Web 1.0, users couldn’t “write” because it lacked the necessary control, interactivity, and visuals. Think of Web 1.0 as someone digitizing their favorite novel and allowing others access to read the novel on the web. Some examples of Web 1.0 include old Geocity pages archived online, shopping cart applications, and CERN’s world wide web.

• Web 2.0 (2006 to current day)

The next iteration is the Web 2.0, described as the Read-Write Web by Sir Tim Berners-Lee, winner of the Turing Prize for inventing the World Wide Web, the first web browser, and the fundamental protocols and algorithms allowing the Web to scale.

Berners-Lee’s description captures the interactive nature of Web 2.0. Users can contribute content and interact with other web users by commenting, podcasting, blogging, tagging, curating with RSS, and social networking.

Users don’t just take in uploaded information as in the digitized novel analogy. With Web 2.0, users can reply, comment, produce and upload their content, enabled by Web 2.0 apps like YouTube, WordPress, Facebook, and Twitter. Due to the invention of mobile devices and the mobile Internet, these apps and social media networks saw an unprecedented level of adoption worldwide.

However, due to the centralized nature of Web 2.0, the world has been grappling with issues such as security, privacy infringement, data access, and nonconsensual data harvesting and usage in recent years.

Then enter Web 3.0, designed to tackle these problems, thanks to its decentralized nature.

• Web 3.0 (the future)

Openness, decentralization, intelligence, and user utility characterize Web 3.0, which has also been described as the Semantic Web or Read-Write-Execute Web. Recall that in Web 2.0, information is dynamic and can be inserted or removed from databases because of its interactive nature. But Web 3.0 does more than that.

It’s designed to parse and understand the context of data and what it might mean to a user instead of relying on keywords. This better understanding of data, plus Web 3.0’s decentralized nature, opens up many possibilities. With Web 3.0, users and data can be mapped in 3D, opening the door for Virtual Realities.

Web 3.0 will also enable users to move away from centralized tech platforms like Google and Facebook. Internet usage will be more secure, and users will be afforded more anonymity and control of their data, making them content owners.

Some examples of Web 3.0 include Everledger, Secretum, PeerTube, and BillMari—a payment platform that has partnered with the Zimbabwe Bank of Agriculture to offer innovative financial services.

Components and Characteristics of Web 3.0

Beyond its evolution, knowing the components and features of Web 3.0 gives you a well-realized picture of how it might work in everyday scenarios. Components and features of Web 3.0 include:

• Artificial Intelligence (AI)

As a prominent component of Web 3.0, AI and Machine Learning (ML) will help usher in an era where users receive more accurate information for their searches. Web 3.0 will use AI and ML to mirror how humans learn and improve information accuracy.

Currently, when users input a search query in Google, they almost always get generalized content based on search intent. Also, ratings and customer feedback are subject to manipulation by those who stand to gain from them.

However, things will be different with Web 3.0. Adverts and information will be tailor-made for each user. Ratings and reviews will be more genuine because AI will seek to gradually reach the human level of understanding information, allowing them to distinguish the real from the fake.

• Decentralization

Decentralization is the core component of Web 3.0. In the Web 3.0 era, data will no longer be stored on central databases owned by big tech companies like Google and Facebook. Instead, data will be held in decentralized peer-to-peer networks or blockchains, allowing individual users to own and manage their data via digital wallets such as Phantom or MetaMask.

• Metaverse or 3D Graphics

In the first iteration of the web, the user experience was text-based. Then in came the current iteration of the web, where videos and pictures complemented text. The next iteration of the web will extend the user experience from 2D to 3D, thanks to its 3D graphics component. This shift will bring about a level of immersion most users have never experienced before.

• Connectivity and Ubiquity

Ubiquity, an essential characteristic of Web 3.0, basically refers to the concept of being everywhere—a quality Web 2.0 lacked due to centralization. Web 3.0, however, will make internet and content accessible from all applications and devices beyond computers and smartphones. It will take advantage of all accessible data to bring about an unprecedented level of interconnectedness. Plus, Internet of Things (IoT) technology will facilitate the production of all kinds of devices.

• Semantic Web

After AI and ML, semantic web is the second most important cornerstone of Web 3.0.

Semantics is the study of the relationship between words, including syntax, language, meaning, and emotions expressed by facts. This component will enable computers in the Web 3.0 era to organize and analyze data intelligently, allowing a website to process search queries the way a human being might.

• Permissionless

People plug in and participate in the global economy by registering for services. For participation to happen, third-party platforms have to permit it by accepting the registration.

But such permissions can be heavily dependent on location. Ask anyone living anywhere in Africa and they’ll tell you that they’ve been denied participation more than once for location-related reasons. Take PayPal, for example. People living in Nigeria and most of Africa cannot use PayPal.

Fortunately, Web 3.0 offers the opportunity to participate in the global digital economy without the permission of a third party. With Web 3.0, users control their data and how they use it.

Anyone from anywhere can connect to any decentralized application and use it. With this comes the freedom for people to create institutions and communities in their own way without permission. Non-fungible Tokens (NFT) are a case in point.

How Web 3.0 Will Impact Different Sectors in Africa

Naturally, the emergence of new technologies, especially ones on the scale of Web 3.0, tends to throw up new exciting trends. Those trends impact countries (and continents) according to their context and realities. In the case of Africa, Web 3.0 might spawn some really interesting trends, a few of which have the potential to transform some industries, highlighting the possible benefits of Web 3.0 in Africa.

Below, let’s look at certain sectors in Africa and Web 3.0 trends that might transform them.

• Art Sector

For so long, the African art industry has had its growth severely limited by a lack of access and monetization avenues. Most African artists, especially those on the continent who didn’t attend prestigious art schools, have had to stick with their art out of sheer passion, not because they made a living out of it.

Thankfully, Web 3.0 trends like Non-fungible Tokens (NFT) have already kickstarted a transformation. With blockchain technology, African artists can now tokenize their work for the first time. When artists sell work on the blockchain, they sign a smart contract, a direct agreement between a buyer and seller, written into lines of code. This then ensures that the artist gets royalties between 10% and 30% on all subsequent sales in the future.

With this comes the kind of financial security African artists didn’t have before. “Digital artists are becoming the new rockstars,” echos Niyi Okeowo, a Nigerian multidisciplinary creative whose piece Indigo Child sold at SuperRare’s marketplace in November 2021 for 1.2 Ether ($5,387). In the same year, Prince Jacon Osinachi Igwe, another Nigerian digital artist, sold his piece Becoming Sochukwuma for $80,000.

These are serious valuations that point to another area in which Web 3.0 is transforming the art industry in Africa. “The value of African art has almost always been decided outside of Africa,” says Linda Dounia, a Senegalese artist and visual designer based in Dakar. “It’s one of the late legacies of the Age of Enlightenment, which is also the epoch that produced the idea that Western nations were, by their own evaluation, culturally/morally/aesthetically superior to non-Western nations.”

But with these new age African artists, Web 3.0 has given them the agency to judge their art through their own lens, allowing them to come up with monetary valuations that consider what their art means to them.

Another trend triggered by NFTs in Africa is the inception of art galleries, auction houses, or art exhibitions that exhibit digital art on screens, transforming the African art space by mimicking the way traditional art is exhibited.

One such art gallery, the first of its kind in West Africa, is the Lagos-based Art X. Founded in 2016 by Tokini Peterside-Schwebig, Art X has held its annual exhibition, a unique cultural event that goes beyond the traditional bounds of an art fair and delivers several days of dynamic art experiences. Tokini Peterside calls this an “NFT revolution.”

However, despite her excitement about the NFT revolution in Africa, she’s also aware of the concerns of some collectors. “Any time there is a significant change in any sector, there is always some pushback and we know that some collectors worry NFTs will have a negative impact on their traditional collections,” says Peterside. “For this reason we included within our Art X Talks programme a special conversation on NFTs, to help demystify NFTs, and reframe the debate around meaning, intention and the creative drive that lies at the core of this revolution.”

• Commercial Sector

There are so many facets of traditional business models in Africa that Web 3.0 is likely to revolutionize. Take search, for example. Often, when you input a search term in the African context, the search engine returns resources taken from other places like the US or UK.

But in the era of Web 3.0, the semantic web will simplify the process of creating and sharing content, affording creators a higher level of organization that’ll allow them to easily produce more personalized, useful, and efficient information for search engines. This will encourage the production of more content in the context of Africa and less reliance on keywords. Businesses will have to use more semantic metadata, making it easier for users to find their products and services.

Also, the African business space will see more 3D product models and digital stores enabled by Metaverse, revolutionizing the current manufacturing processes. Small business owners will be able to sell their products and services on open platforms directly to customers. And there’ll be less need for a central authority to bring businesses and consumers together.

Decentralized reward points (or loyalty points) are another Web 3.0 trend that will revolutionize the relationship between businesses and their customers. The loyalty point is a system that allows businesses to provide instantaneous customer incentives for every purchase.

Before now, most businesses in Africa employ traditional loyalty programs such as discounts, cash back, and early access. While there are those with more innovative loyalty programs across the continent, they too have struggled to provide real value to their customers with their point incentive.

Usually, the points from these programs can hardly be used to get value from different vendors. But thanks to the decentralized nature of Web 3.0 and blockchain technology, customers can start getting more value from their loyalty points.

Impressive as all the above trends are, none will be as influential to the African commercial space as Web 3.0’s potential to open up new businesses and monetization avenues. According to Micheal Kimani, a Kenyan blockchain enthusiast, data wrangler and entrepreneur, some Web 3.0 trends that are already shaping up in Africa are the play-to-earn and microtask systems.

Basically, these systems will enable people to play games or complete small tasks for companies online and get tokens that have dollar or bitcoin prices, allowing them to get value for their time and attention.

Ticketing platforms are another example of a Web 3.0 monetization avenue. Essentially, this involves speculating that an event or conference will be in high demand and then purchasing the tickets ahead of time, with the intention to transfer those tickets to other people for a higher price.

For a continent where people under 25 make up 60% of the population, many of whom are armed with smartphones and laptops, the African commerce sector is poised to experience a significant boon.

• Health Sector

The healthcare sector in Africa is beset with many problems, including service delivery, paper and pen data storage, inefficient drug supply chains, and drug counterfeiting. Due to these issues, many doctors diagnose patients without access to the patient’s medical history, increasing the likelihood of life-threatening complications.

Counterfeit drugs pose an even greater risk. According to the World Health Organization, an estimated 1 in 10 medical products in low- and middle-income countries is substandard or falsified. These counterfeit drugs either have the wrong ingredients or contain an imprecise level of essential ingredients.

Fortunately, Web 3.0 can help combat some of these problems, revolutionizing some industry practices on the African continent. At the heart of Web 3.0 lies blockchain technology, a system where data is spread across distributed ledgers, making it impossible to falsify information. When a patient’s latest medical information is entered, it will be verified across distributed ledgers, and the patient's medical history will be preserved.

The blockchain also provides a secured sharing platform. Different medical facilities can integrate patient records on blockchain infrastructure, allowing access to patient medical records across various medical facilities. This will foster a more personalized approach to healthcare in Africa.

• Education Sector

The role of the education sector in human development can’t be overstated. “Teachers perform a pivotal function in our society, not only in shaping the minds of future leaders and preparing students to take on the jobs of the future, but also inspiring and enabling better learning outcomes,” says Brad Pulford, Managing Director of HP Africa.

But unfortunately, numerous factors have hampered those learning outcomes for educators across Africa over the years. According to an education-focused survey by HP in Africa, 82% of teachers noted access to instructional materials and supplies as a problem, and a further 89% said access to adequate technological resources is an issue.

In the area of technological resources, Web 3.0 will come in handy in ways that’ll likely revolutionize the education sector in Africa. Ethiopia is already setting a trend. The country’s Ministry of Education has partnered with Cardano to create a blockchain-based digital identity for five million students and teachers. These five million Ethiopian students will receive a Cardano blockchain-based ID that will allow the ministry to track their academic performance, and 750,000 teachers will get access to the system.

Another trend that might manifest in the education sector is the gamification system of learning, supported by blockchain technology. In this system, students will be able to conduct tasks assigned by their instructors in a scenario mimicking the actual atmosphere in online gaming.

Some characteristic elements of gamification include using levels and checkpoints for progression, creating playful barriers and competition within the classroom, comparing game performance personalized for each student, and creating challenges with more than one way to solve using a digitalized scoreboard chart.

Interestingly, there’s also the likelihood of a worldwide shift from the pay-to-learn model to the learn-to-earn learning model. Due to its young population, Africa is most likely to experience a massive adoption of this model. In the learn-to-earn model, people will join the creator economy in less traditional ways.

Currently, millions of people take courses on YouTube (or universities) without the guarantee of earning potential. The learn-to-earn model will solve this problem by allowing people to build an on-chain resume—a log of historical activities stored in a blockchain network such as Ethereum (ETH) that highlights your experience, transactions, and skills.

Predictably, many young people coming up in Africa will begin to question the offerings of the traditional education system. With the learn-to-earn model in place, many of them might just prefer to join Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DOA), where they can learn, earn, and develop on-chain resumes on the fly.

• Financial Sector

The financial sector in Africa has surely come in leaps and bounds. The African startup scene has provided alternatives to traditional institutions across Africa, enabling small business owners on the continent access to an array of financial solutions.

According to a study by the European Investment Bank, Sub-saharan Africa had one of the highest bank account ownership stats in the world, with heavy subscriptions to digital financial services in rural areas.

However, despite the efforts of fintech companies across the continent, issues such as access, fraud, and expensive processes still plague the sector. Over the years, it has been difficult for fintech companies to eliminate all these issues due to the centralized nature of the current financial system. This current state of affairs gives decentralized finance (DeFi) its revolutionary potential.

With DeFi, the possibilities seem boundless. Smart contracts, decentralized blockchain and automation all come into play. Blockchain and automation can be used to reduce the cost of financial processes, while smart contract transforms e-commerce, facilitating online secure transactions in an easy and smart way.

DeFi also has the potential to transform lending and settlements in Africa. Individuals, small and medium businesses can get crypto loans in exchange for their crypto assets as collateral.

When the loanee pays back their loan, the lender simply releases their crypto assets. All of these happen without the mediation of an intermediary, another aspect that lends DeFi its resistance to harsh government policies. Africa is a continent where governments impose policies without considering the full effects of those policies.

Conclusion

Overall, none of these are set in stone. A lot of experimentation is happening in the Web 3.0 space. While some Web 3.0 trends are already taking root, others will require certain factors to fall in place to trigger a widespread adoption.

For example, trends like crypto loans might not take off easily unless players in the space are willing to give crypto loans without collateral, at least for a start. Still, if Web 3.0 does go on to become generally mainstream, Africa will be one of the continents most impacted.

“I feel like the reason why Africa will be impacted is because we have an opportunity to create an additional industry,” says Bawuah. “We are going to be the world’s resource for agriculture and food and commodities but we can also become the world’s resource for cheap accessibility to Web 3.0. And by creating those industries we are going to have a new lease of jobs and talent and people will look at Africa as a place to come to and not a place to capitalize.”