Serge Belamant

Serge Belamant
Serge-Belamant-640.jpg Serge-Belamant-640.jpg
Born	1953 Tulle, France
🏳️ Nationality	French
🏫 Education	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
💼 Occupation	Entrepreneur, Computer Scientist
Known for	Patent Holder
🌐 Website	https://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/people/person.asp?personId=7763589&privcapId=4494391

Serge Belamant is a famous entrepreneur, businessman, founder, and patent holder of several blockchain technologies that have been instrumental in the creation of modern blockchain and cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. Belamant's career as an applications and software developer was instrumental in the development of several different blockchain technologies, including the foundational elements that were brought together in 2008 for the creation of the first unified blockchain tool.

Additionally, Belamant helped create several cryptocurrencies and laid the groundwork for the cryptocurrency boom of the 2010s and beyond. Belamant's innovation has made it easier for different banks and governments to quickly process activities such as deposits, investments, and withdrawals. He’s also founded organizations that enable billions of users without access to traditional bank accounts to make fast, secure, and simple online financial transactions with other users and retailers, institutions, and digital storefronts.

Serge Belamant was born in Tulle, France in 1953. During his teenage years, he moved to South Africa. While he was living in South Africa, Belamant learned how to speak English. Belamant’s father was a tiler, and Belamant credits his father for largely inspiring his dedication to hard work and attention to detail that led to his founding of multiple successful businesses, inventions, patents, and organizations.

Belamant is the founder of Net1 UEPS Technologies (UEPS standing for Universal Electronic Payment Systems) and a co-founder of Zilch Technologies.

Education

Serge Belamant attended The Highlands North High School for Boys, where he was an outstanding student and athlete. This is where he learned to speak and write English and excelled in sports such as rugby, athletics and chess. This school was also where he developed a love and passion for connecting disparate groups, inspired by how he was welcomed into the community after having moved from his birthplace of France to South Africa as a teenager.

Belamant became Head Prefect in 1972, was awarded full colours in Rugby, athletics, chess and academics - was Victor Ludorum in 1971 and 1970, house captain, member of both the science and bridge club. He represented Southern Transvaal multiple times in the South African Chess school championship - 6th position in 1972. He was matriculated in 1972, with a university exemption pass.

After graduation, Belamant attended Witwatersrand University and The University of South Africa, where he studied engineering, computer systems, and information systems. These courses first began to inspire Belamant to formulate ideas surrounding how engineering, computer systems, and information systems could interact to create new technologies that could transform the world. Though still young enough for his future to be undetermined, classmates remember a young man who was constantly curious, filled with ideas, and eager to transform established systems—whether digital, informational, or physical.

Despite excelling as a student while attending the University of South Africa, Serge Belamant discontinued his studies and took 3rd year courses in information systems through UNISA, Africa’s largest distance learning institution and its longest standing. Established in 1873, the University has embraced an ongoing commitment to constantly adapting to the evolving needs of students in a transforming world. As a result, Belamant felt he had all he needed and never completed his degree, as he would have had to repeat subjects he had already passed.

Career

Belamant started working at Matrix, a large civil engineering company. Belamant worked on small to medium size IBM computers using finite element analysis software and created special applications to help measure water levels in dams throughout South Africa. The applications were also able to help predict future droughts. Belamant helped develop computer models for projects at The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research. His innovative work with the computers there helped create some advancements in digital mapping, statistical methods, and new graphic interfaces. This is where he learned statistical methods, developed graphics interfaces, digital mapping, road network analysis and the like.

These skills would ultimately become invaluable as Belamant would go on to explore the potential for technology that would allow for secure, traceable and unchangeable transactions on the internet as interconnected computer systems began to become increasingly common. Difficult as it may be to imagine now, Belamant came up through his professional career in a world where the idea of connecting computers across great distances was still in its infancy. This made concerns about privacy and security when handling transactions across networked computer a major source of debate and focus. Eventually, Belamant would be on the forefront in inventing what would ultimately become known as blockchain (though it wouldn’t receive that moniker officially until the launch of Bitcoin in 2008, built exclusively on technology that Belamant developed and patented.)

To earn some extra cash while working at Matric, Belamant assisted Control Data's engineers to perform bench marks against various computer manufacturers such as IBM, UNIVAC, BURROUGHS, ICL Could code in FORTRAN, COBOL, PL1, PASCAL, \various ASSEMBLERS, APL., ALGOL. Before long, he was offered a job at Control Data (super computer manufacturers) to join the application support team called Cybernet. It was here that he became involved in debugging code and assisting in operating various scientific packages from structural engineering to linear programming. This was where Belamant’s education, personal interests, and career experience aligned into a powerful opportunity to grow and create lasting impact. As he became increasingly experienced with linear programming and its potential as a tool for secure transactions, he began to explore ways to harness these opportunities into a usuable form. This was the beginning of the creation of blockchain technology as a security and record-keeping tool within the digital world, and it would eventually go on to transform Belamant’s life and the world as a whole.

In the meantime, Belamant was awarded the analyst of the year award in 1980, speaking to his consistent habit of innovation and creating powerful solutions for increasingly complex digital problems in linear programming. This recognition would help inspire Belamant to expand his education and understanding of linear programming, so he soon accepted and received training in Washington DC in linear and non-linear programming to run the COBRA system for the RSA military. It was during this time that Belamant began to see that both linear and non-linear programming could become about more than small-business aspirations, but could influence governments, militaries, and large organizations around the world with powerful capabilities the world hadn’t yet imagined. As he grew and developed a wide range of related skills, Belamant also modified and optimised the application for RSA specifications and aptitude testing—this had an immense impact on the RSA military as they were able to manage and oversee operations with greater efficiency, clarity, and security.

Belamant joined the Control Data operating system support group and took over as head analyst for ESKOM (national grid supplier), weather bureau, JCI (mining), CSIR and Palindaba (nuclear research). In these roles he was empowered with a new skillset—leadership. Overseeing talented teams of analysts, programmers, and other professionals, Belamant learned how to combine is immense technical expertise with a willingness to lead by genuinely knowing and understanding the needs of his teams. It was here that Belamant began to develop not only as a programmer and technical mind, but as a businessman and leader. Meanwhile, he continued to make tremendous gains in developing his skills as a programmer and analyst, winning the systems' analyst award of the year in 1982. Moved to DATABANK to create the first scientifically driven financial system using Control Data equipment. Created the VIB network. VIB was bought by Volkskas.

Eventually, Belamant became a special consultant at Bancorp to research risk management. This is where he developed a 10-step programme to analyse risk and test business sustainability, a programme that eventually led to increased efficiency and reduced loss throughout the organization. This programme also went on to influence other organizations in both the public and private sectors, and as a result Belamant was awarded full membership of the RSA computer society.

Later renamed the IEEE computer society, this membership-based organization allowed members to network within the computing field’s most trusted and authoritative organization, with connections to companies, clients, organizations, institutions, and governments worldwide.

Then the RSA computer society, the organization saw in Belamant a talented engineer, analyst, and leader who had the potential to transform the world of digital transactions for the better as he continued to grow and develop his skills. But before that, Belamant began to expand his interests in other areas.

Belamant soon found himself interested in business theory, including the analysis of which business models were able to survive and flourish while others wilted and eventually failed despite promising early success. He wondered whether there was a way to quantify certain factors to help determine how businesses could best shape their strategies to maximize success. As a result, he eventually created a program that looked closely at how sustainable a business really is. This program was designed to bring in a wide range of data sets, inspired by his time in linear and non-linear programming, to help idenfity problem areas that could eventually lead to a business losing its way and failing. Thanks to his work at Bancorp, Belamant soon joined SASWITCH and became the head of the IT division.^[1] This is where he as first able to fully exhibit his dual skills of leadership and programming to lead a diverse team of IT professionals as they tackled major issues. He managed the IT division as sanctions were being implemented against RSA. Designed, developed and implemented the National ATM switch in RSA connected to all RSA banks using Stratus computers (fault tolerant and synchronous). This proved very successful and SASWITCH became the 2 largest ATM switch in the world.

SASWITCH System

In 1989, after Serge Belamant had completed the development and implemented the new SASWITCH system, he conceptualised the first RSA POS system based on a network of X.25 interconnected workstations.^[2] This was not implemented by the banks as they first wished to determine the value proposition which could be achieved by rolling out POS devices on a national basis and how the revenue split would be divided amongst the banking partners.

Serge Belamant therefore decided to leave SASWITCH and started his own company based on one of his initial patents namely the FTS (Funds Transfer System). In October 1989, he founded Net1.

Net1

Belamant left SASWITCH and founded Net1 technologies. Visa hired Net1 to create a new app. Belamant developed The Chip Offline Pre-Authorized Card. The card helped make it easier for people to complete transactions due to the technology being able to easily detect fraud. Net1 overhauled Cash Payment Services. Net1 continued to expand throughout the World, reaching places such as Iraq, Ghana, and Russia. Net1 received an RSA government contract from The South Africa Social Security Administration to help pay for the social grants in South Africa.

However, in 1995, Visa entered into an agreement with Net1 for Serge Belamant to design and develop a new Visa application called COPAC (Chip Offline Pre-authorised Card) using FTS/UEPS technology. Serge Belamant relocated to the USA to complete this project. In 1999, Net1 bought CPS (Cash Paymaster Services) from FNB. CPS provided a system to pay welfare grants to around 1 million South Africans in rural areas. By applying the UEPS, Net1 was able to modernise the payment of grants by providing interoperability, speed and security. During this time, Serge Belamant was praised by Stafford Thomas, a well-known journalist, who equated the achievement to that of Henry Ford.

Net1 grew mainly outside of South Africa and signed deals in Namibia, Botswana, Burundi , Russia and later on Ghana, Iraq to name a few. During 2003 and 2005, I was working to list Net1 on the NASDAQ which I achieved in 2005. I became the Chairman and CEO of Net1, positions I held until 2017. Net1's capitalisation, when at its peak, reached more than the 2 billion USD mark.

Zilch Technology Limited

In 2017, Serge Belamant helped co-found the company Zilch Technology Limited with his son Philip.

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