Kenya Taps Blockchain for Faster Academic Certificate Verification

The Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) has partnered with Avalanche to create an electronic verification system for academic certificates. The platform, launched on August 3, uses Avalanche's C-Chain to anchor over 15 million historical examination records dating back to 1989.

Nearly 1 million candidates who took the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exam in 2025 have their certificates available exclusively through the electronic platform. This means students can access and download their credentials, while employers and universities can verify them online.

KNEC CEO David Njengere said, 'Candidates no longer have to rely solely on physical certificates... Instead, they can securely access, download and verify their KCSE certificates online, providing a faster, more reliable and more convenient way of managing academic credentials in the digital age.'

The system is designed to reduce certificate checks from months to seconds, making it easier for students to get verified. KNEC plans to expand the platform to cover about 35 million verifiable records.