EPIC Blockstar Spotlight

At the Blockchain Center of Excellence, we promote research and education in blockchain technologies, and while we support learning, we are constantly cheering for the success of our students. This is why we are delighted to inspire our readers with Nato Silué’s journey. Nato graduated from the University of Arkansas with a Masters of Information Systems, and she served as a Graduate Assistant to the Center last semester. Nato recently became employed as the regional director of Canza Finance, a DeFi application for the unbanked in Africa.

Nato was raised in an environment without technology, which gave her the desire to learn more about it. Her passion grew until the point of her choosing Information Technology as her field when the opportunity to study abroad came into her life. She got her bachelor’s degree in information systems from the University of Central Arkansas and after a year of experience as a software engineer at Summit and IT support Assistant at the Arkansas Public Health Laboratory, she went back to school to get her master’s degree at the Sam M. Walton School of Business. During her studies, she worked with the Blockchain Center of Excellence which gave her a close sight about blockchain before deciding to take this concentration in her career.

Nato never forgot the support her country gave her in her studies, and she always wanted to give this help back. This opportunity came with Canza Finance. “My country invested in my education, and I have always wanted to go back and serve. Since Canza Finance uses blockchain to address some serious financial /issues in Sub-Saharan Africa, this made me want to join them. Their goal, mission and values align with mine!”

Access to financial services and products is a massive challenge, especially for people situated within the African Continent. “Canza” stands for “change”, and they focus on financial products for individuals and business by using web 3.0, DeFi, and crypto assets in order to improve issues like high fees, premium FX rates, slow settlements, and lack of financial services like lending and remittance.