Why are you participating for Based Africa?

As current university students from the University of Dar es Salaam, we recognize that previous industrial and internet revolutions have left Africa behind, but Web3 offers a level playing field this time around. As a new frontier in technology, Web3 gives us the chance to build our own solutions and further our own economies, rather than continue being consumers of 1st world products. It offers a new way of establishing trust and transparency, things that have become evermore scarce in Tanzania, where fake certificates and photoshopped documents run rampant.

Similar to monetary inflation, when fake certificates become common, they devalue the efforts of those who genuinely earned their credentials such as degrees, licenses, or professional certifications. This issue threatens both personal growth and economic opportunities.

By participating in this hackathon, We hope to quickly build a working MVP, deepen our understanding of web3 tools, and meet some really cool people along the way. Winning would be exciting, but our primary goal is to build a solution that makes a lasting impact on Tanzanians and, ultimately, Africans across the continent. We hope to build up our communities one block at a time. 😊

What challenges are you focusing on?

In 2022, over 15,000 Tanzanian civil servants were dismissed for using fake certificates. A degree from certain universities in Tanzania has increasingly become worth less and less due to the growing number of fraudulent cases. Worse than this, the consequences of document forgery extend to land disputes where disproportionately, marginalized groups such as widows and orphans are often cheated out of their property through forged contracts, fraudulent certificates, and corrupt practices.

The prevalence of fraudulent documents undermines much of the population's trust in education and legal systems, posing a serious threat to socio-economic stability let alone development. With traditional document storage systems being centralized and susceptible to single points of failure, the problem space is begging for a solution that secures critical documents and ensures their legitimacy. Legitify is that solution; transforming how we safeguard trust and transparency.

How does your submission address this challenge?

Our solution, Legitify, directly addresses the challenges of document fraud and certificate forgery by leveraging the Base blockchain to create tamper-proof and verifiable certificates. With Legitify, every uploaded document is cryptographically secured and stored on IPFS, ensuring that it remains immutable and accessible across decentralized nodes. This eliminates the risks associated with centralized storage, such as manipulation, data loss, or corruption.

At the heart of Legitify are smart contracts that digitally sign every certificate, enabling instant verification by any user. This prevents unauthorized modifications and ensures that only legitimate credentials whether academic degrees, property titles, or professional licenses can be issued and trusted.

Through our user-friendly web interface built with Vue.js, users from different sectors like governments, educational institutions, and businesses can seamlessly upload, validate, and retrieve documents. This approach not only enhances trust but also streamlines compliance processes, making it easy for employers, land registries, or service providers to verify certificates in real-time.

In contexts like Tanzania, where counterfeit credentials and land fraud are prevalent, Legitify ensures that critical documents remain trustworthy and tamper-proof. For example, universities can issue degrees on the blockchain, preventing dilution of value from fraudulent diplomas. Land registries can securely manage ownership certificates, reducing disputes involving vulnerable groups such as widows and orphans.

By building on Base blockchain with smart integrations through ethers.js, Legitify aligns perfectly with the hackathon's goals delivering scalable, impactful solutions through Web3 technology. This solution not only tackles fraud head-on but also sets a new standard for transparency, giving communities across Africa the tools to rebuild trust, one verified document at a time.

Challenges we ran into

During the buildathon, with only two team members, we faced several challenges that required us to be adaptable and resourceful. A major technical hurdle was obtaining Base Sepolia faucets during the deployment and testing phase, as our wallet was unverified at the start. This delayed our ability to proceed with contract deployment and testing. To overcome this, we worked on getting our wallet addresses verified, and once that was completed, we successfully received the necessary faucets and moved forward with the development process.

Managing multiple responsibilities between just the two of us was a balancing act. With limited manpower, every task whether related to smart contracts, front-end development, or deployment fell on one of us, making efficient time management critical. We addressed this by splitting tasks according to individual strengths: one member focused on smart contract development and blockchain integration using ethers.js, while the other handled the Vue.js-based front-end and overall design.

We encountered challenges integrating blockchain with our front-end components, particularly with Vue.js, as there are fewer resources available compared to React.js and Next.js. Debugging issues, especially when connecting smart contracts to the interface, took longer than anticipated. However, by staying focused, engaging in pair programming when necessary, and utilizing clear documentation, we maintained effective communication between the two systems.

Non-technical challenges included time pressure and aligning our work with the hackathon’s requirements. With two people managing multiple roles, it was crucial to adopt an agile workflow. We broke down the project into smaller, actionable tasks and prioritized must-have features to ensure we had a functional MVP ready on time. Frequent check-ins and task prioritization helped us stay on the same page and meet key milestones.

Additional Features

This project was started from scratch during the Buildathon, from brainstorming to delivery. Therefore, no additional features were added beyond the scope of the project itself.