Peter George, an entrepreneur who is among the earliest adopters of Blockchain applications for central bank digital currency and investments in digital assets, has been named chairman of the board of directors of Medici Land Governance (MLG).
A citizen of Trinidad and Tobago, Peter founded Avatar Capital a decade ago as a channel to support embryonic business developments that disrupt existing legacy models. This included Bitt, Inc., the Barbados-based fintech firm, where he also served as chairman.
According to CEO Ali El Husseini, Ph.D., the new chairman designate, concomitant with his significant investment, is the ideal match for MLG, as the company recently entered its sixth year of operations.
“Despite investments in reforming land transaction systems to be fully digitized, secure and efficient, transactions continue to be made outside of the formal system,” Dr. Husseini said. “This threatens tenure security for landowners, the sustainability of a technologically advanced land administration system and the economic viability of land markets and land-based investments. Mr. George’s deep appreciation for the potential for developing platforms and portals to support revenue collection on newly digitized records is relevant and timely for the next phases in our work.”
Bitt focused on supporting regional governments and central banks, especially in the Caribbean region and, most recently, Nigeria, by offering solutions to mint and issue digital fiat currency. “My history in the Caribbean and experience in Africa with the issuance of the eNaira in Nigeria dovetails exactly with MLG’s work in many of the same areas,” Mr. George said. “Registering a land transaction is time-consuming and costly for citizens, and many might be vulnerable to fraud or unauthorized activity. Similarly, at Bitt, we prioritized financial inclusion, specifically for those without access to legacy banking institutions, which was not only expansionary but also equitable and secure.”
He added, “Similarly, MLG’s goal in building paperless land transaction systems that can be run on a public blockchain has unimaginable potential to unlock dead capital and usher in an immense and symbiotic economic explosion. This is undoubtedly one of the most exciting and, more so, critically important projects I have seen.” This includes Ubutaka, a web-based paperless registration application for land transactions, which MLG developed for Rwanda, the first country in Africa to record land transactions on a public blockchain.
MLG has established a prominent footprint in the Caribbean. Working with the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission (GLSC) on the country’s Mainstreaming Sustainable Land Development and Management (SLDM) project, MLG has been leading the production of updated cadastral map data. The project covers 545 square kilometers of urbanized areas (nearly all of Guyana’s urban footprint) and another 15,736 square kilometers of rural areas.
MLG also mapped the island of St. Kitts. The company provided capacity-building services to the island government to strengthen local knowledge, skills and understandings related to mapping, land administration, GIS and other relevant technical areas.
MLG also has successfully implemented land titling, registry and administration projects in Zambia, Liberia, Mexico and the U.S., among others. It has supported various local, regional and national governments to implement digital solutions to complex land governance challenges. This includes issuing land documents, streamlining the administration of land rights, recording vacant properties, ensuring protections against deed fraud and creating an environment for sustainability and improved well-being, especially for women and others who historically have not enjoyed the benefit of formal certificates of title. In Zambia, MLG is working with the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources to implement an ongoing 7-year, nationwide project, to issue up to 4 million certificates of title.
Mr. George’s entrepreneurial experience covers numerous sectors on the business spectrum. His Trotters Restaurant Group portfolio comprises eight restaurants in three countries (Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad). Patrons at his restaurants were the first in the region to have been able to pay with both crypto currency and digital cash. Other business ventures include Digital Asset Capital Management, one of the world’s first Crypto investment funds and Creator Labs, the first 3-D and motion design agency in the Caribbean, specializing in NFT production, animation, digital wearables and metaverse applications. He studied at Clifton College in the U.K. and Emory University in Atlanta, GA. He is married to Elizabeth and is a father of four girls.
About MLG
Medici Land Governance leverages blockchain and other technologies (such as cryptography, AI, blockchain and geodata collection) to support land governance, titling, and administration with a secure public record of land ownership. With land records stored on the blockchain, land ownership is standardized and can be recognized by local and global economies. Medici Land Governance supports agencies in the digitization of their current records, engendering trust and security in data by diminishing human error and accidental damage to records.
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