Funding platform Orica partners with NGO to use NFTs to build a school in Uganda
The rising number of social impact projects using digital art to fundraise for charitable causes marks a powerful development in the nonfungible token (NFT) space. One such project leveraging technology for social good is Orica, an ethical funding platform supporting artists and social impact organisations, or SIOs, to create and sell NFTs.
Orica launched Thursday at the Malta AI & Blockchain Summit, or AIBC Malta, and announced its collaboration with an NGO to drop NFTs on its platform and use those funds to build a school in Uganda.
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— Orica #NFT Platform (@orica_io) November 18, 2021The school is in the Ssese Islands, an archipelago of 84 islands in Lake Victoria, Uganda. The NGO, Bbanga Project, is a charitable organization registered in Austria with NGO status in Uganda. This means that all the receipts are audited by the Viennese charity and tax authorities.
In an announcement shared with Cointelegraph, Orica founder Danial Nanaei said:
“Seventy billion dollars of cryptocurrency moved through Malta after it became ‘Blockchain Island’ so it doesn’t make sense that 4,400km away, Ssese Islands families struggle on less than a dollar a day. We decided to use the launch of our NFT platform at the Malta summit to start making positive change.”Related: Vitalik Buterin: NFTs can be a social good, not just a casino for rich celebrities
Bbanga Project collaborated with German digital artist Mellowmann to release a collection of Uganda-inspired NFTs. Collectors of Mellowmann’s work include Dima Buterin, the so-called grandfather of Ethereum. His latest Ssese Islands NFT collection on Orica is called ‘A Fairer World, ’ and was previewed by the school children before going on auction. Bbanga Project hopes to raise at least $6,815 (6,000 euros) and finish construction of the children’s school on the remote island of Bugala, according to Nanaei.
It all started when Nanaei and Sani Hayatbakhsh, Bbanga Project's founder, met in a cafe in Vienna in 2009. Having kept in touch since, Hayatbakhsh shared with Nanaei that even though the main hall of the Uganda school had been built this year thanks to funds from the City of Vienna, they were still short.
“Sales from the NFTs mean that we can finish the building,” explained Hayatbakhsh. “Two hundred more children will gain access to primary education. And of course, Bbanga Project children were excited to be part of a technology launch and see an international artist create artwork especially for them,” he added.
‘A Fairer World,’ NFT collection is now available on Orica. In addition to fundraising, Orica ultimately hopes to bring greater awareness to many important social causes. Later this year, Orica will release an initiative called Orica Projects to make such artist-SIO NFT collaborations standard practice on its platform.