Last updated 5 months ago
Inadequate infrastructure and limited resources impede the expansion of Catalyst Africa Town Hall, restricting its ability to reach and engage audiences in remote corners of the continent.
Providing CATH with resources and infrastructure to achieve widespread participation and engagement of Africans in CATH meetings, fostering inclusivity and collaboration.
This is the total amount allocated to Catalyst Africa Town Hall: Bridging the Gap for Continental Expansion. 3 out of 3 milestones are completed.
1/3
Identify underserved African communities.
Cost: ₳ 22,500
Delivery: Month 2 - Dec 2023
2/3
Establish partnerships with local Blockchain organizations in Africa
Cost: ₳ 22,500
Delivery: Month 4 - Feb 2024
3/3
Training The Trainer workshop on Cardano Blockchain in Africa
Cost: ₳ 30,000
Delivery: Month 6 - Apr 2024
Afia Owusu, Daniel, Ubio, Richmond, Boaz
No dependencies
Project will be fully open source
SDG goals:
Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation
Reduce inequality within and among countries
SDG subgoals:
Build and upgrade education facilities that are child, disability and gender sensitive and provide safe, non-violent, inclusive and effective learning environments for all
Promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and, by 2030, significantly raise industry’s share of employment and gross domestic product, in line with national circumstances, and double its share in least developed countries
Facilitate sustainable and resilient infrastructure development in developing countries through enhanced financial, technological and technical support to African countries, least developed countries, landlocked developing countries and small island developing States
Key Performance Indicator (KPI):
Proportion of schools offering basic services, by type of service
Manufacturing value added as a proportion of GDP and per capita
Manufacturing employment as a proportion of total employment
Total official international support (official development assistance plus other official flows) to infrastructure
Universal Human Rights Index (UHRI):
#proposertoolsdg
Africa is a multifaceted continent, With around 3,000 tribes and 2,000 languages and dialects, Africa is a continent with fascination around every corner, probably one of the most diverse continents in the world out there. With this diversity comes its own uniqueness and unique challenges, the challenge of reaching out to a fragmented piece of communities effectively. As a decentralized community, we believe in the principle of inclusivity, the concept that until all these tribes are included our work is not done.
As such we need to constantly come out with strategies to expand and reach out to these communities, to achieve 2 primary goals.
(i) The expansion of CATH numerically
(ii) The representation of various communities in our meetings.
For expansion to occur effectively we will have to ensure that our meetings are a representation of the diversity and uniqueness that defines our people.
This means investing in the human resources for translation of our meetings into various languages, to capture the nuances that define us.
The CATH expansion has a tripod approach. The first leg of the tripod is investing in translation tools and services that will help give better experience for different users, we call this approach expansion through simulated experience and better experience.
The idea behind this is that people love to resonate with their language, as such investing in tools that makes people resonate better is what we need most. This includes paying for translators, paying to use translation tools etc.
The other aspect of expansion, which is the second leg of the tripod involves actively reaching out to unreached communities, through Catalyst Africa Town hall events in remote areas and unreached areas in Africa.
Part of our focus for this CATH this year is physical engagement with unreached communities. We will be holding CATH awareness and onboarding campaigns in different regions all over Africa.
This CATH awareness and onboarding campaign will be done using the Africa onboarding map below.
The goal is to see representations in all the regions in the map. So using the map as a guide we will be going to different regions in Africa educating them about Catalyst and how and why they need to join the African town hall.
This project and approach to CATH expansion will be experimented in the next 6 months, tentatively this means expanding into 6 new countries in Africa with little to no representation and in each of the countries onboarding between 10-200 members each representing different sub communities into CATH and in extension Project Catalyst.
The project will not only check how many members we will be onboarding through this expansion mode but how long they stay when the language issue is sorted and they were onboarded through physical engagements.
The last arm of the tripod is in investing in marketing activities and promotional activities that will bring visibility to the CATH. This involves paid ads, paying local influencers to tweet, comment or make posts about us, having promotional stuffs that speak about us to anyone. This is the last arm and its goal is to make us more visible to those seeking us.
Your reasons for approaching it in the way that you have:
I believe that the Cardano blockchain is the best solution for this problem. The blockchain is a distributed ledger technology that is designed to be secure, scalable, and efficient. This makes it ideal for hosting a digital platform that can reach people in remote areas.
The Cardano blockchain can be used to create a decentralized platform that is not reliant on any single infrastructure provider. This means that the platform will be more reliable and accessible to people in remote areas. The blockchain can also be used to implement a payment system that allows people to participate in the Town Hall discussions without having to pay high fees.
Who will your project engage:
The project will engage people in remote areas of Africa who are interested in participating in the Catalyst Africa Town Hall discussions. The project will also engage developers, entrepreneurs, and policymakers in Africa who have the potential of becoming active members and participants of the CATH and project catalyst generally.
How you will demonstrate or prove your impact:
The impact of the project will be measured by the number of people who participate in the Catalyst Africa Town Hall discussions, the number of new ideas that are generated, and the number of real-world problems that are solved. The project team will also collect feedback from users to assess the impact of the platform.
It will help to build a more inclusive Cardano community. By translating Catalyst meetings into different languages and holding awareness campaigns in unreached communities.
This project will help to make the Cardano community more inclusive. This will attract more people from different backgrounds to the Cardano community, which will make the community stronger and more diverse.
In terms of quantifiable impact, this project would onboard 1,000’s of new members to CATH and Cardano ecosystem. These members would generate an estimated 100,000 transactions per month. This would represent a significant increase in activity on the Cardano network and would help to strengthen the ecosystem.
This project could help to increase awareness of Cardano and Catalyst in Africa and build a more inclusive Cardano community:
The project's benefits for the Cardano ecosystem include:
These benefits can be measured in a number of ways, including:
These measures are realistic because they are based on the project's goals and objectives. The project aims to increase awareness of Cardano and Catalyst in Africa, to build a more inclusive Cardano community, and to provide a platform for collaboration between different communities in Africa. These are all measurable goals, and the project's team has a plan to achieve them.
The innovation will affect Cardano's productivity and growth in both the short and the long term. In the short term, the project will help to increase the number of people using Cardano Blockchain and attendance to CATH. This will lead to an increase in transactions on the Cardano network, which will boost the network's productivity.
In the long term, the project will help to build a more vibrant Cardano community. This will attract more developers and entrepreneurs to the Cardano ecosystem, which will lead to more innovation and growth.
Reports and Publications: Prepare comprehensive reports documenting the project objectives, methodology, findings, and recommendations. Publish these reports on relevant platforms, such as project websites, research databases, or academic journals. This helps make the project outcomes accessible to a wide audience, including researchers, policymakers, and other stakeholders.
Presentations and Conferences: Organize presentations or workshops to share the project results with interested parties. Consider participating in relevant conferences, seminars, or events related to the project's focus area. This provides an opportunity to engage directly with the audience, answer questions, and receive feedback.
Online Platforms and Social Media: Utilize online platforms, such as project websites, blogs, or social media channels, to share project updates, insights, and key findings. Create engaging content, such as articles, infographics, or videos, to reach a broader audience and encourage sharing and discussion.
Community Engagement and Local Outreach: Organize community events or public forums to engage directly with the communities involved in the project. Share the project outcomes, listen to their perspectives, and discuss how the results can benefit them. This helps build trust, gather feedback, and ensure that the project's outputs are relevant and accessible to the communities it aims to serve.
Industry Knowledge: Our team's understanding of the Cardano ecosystem ensures that we are well-versed in the project's context, technology, and potential challenges. This expertise enables us to make informed decisions and deliver outcomes aligned with the goals of the project.
Community Engagement: The presence of Cardano Ambassadors and Community Advocators within our team indicates a commitment to engaging and involving the community. This approach fosters trust and inclusivity by actively seeking input, addressing concerns, and ensuring that the project meets the needs of the community it serves.
Networking and Collaboration: As Cardano Ambassadors and Educators, Our team members likely have established connections within the Cardano community and beyond. This network can be leveraged to form partnerships, access additional resources, and promote collaboration, which enhances the project's credibility and effectiveness.
Track Record: Having successfully run the Catalyst Africa Town Hall for the past 24 months demonstrates our team's ability to manage and deliver projects over an extended period. This track record instills confidence in stakeholders, as they can see tangible evidence of your team's commitment, reliability, and ability to execute projects effectively.
Project Management Skills: The combination of Cardano Ambassadors, Community Advocators, and Cardano Educators brings a diverse set of skills and perspectives to the project. These skills can include project management, community engagement, communication, and education, all of which contribute to effective project execution and accountability.
The main goals of the project are to:
The project will validate its approach by measuring the following:
The project will use a tripod approach to expansion:
Milestone 1: Identify underserved African communities.
Timeline: 1-2 months
Tasks:
Milestone 2: Establish partnerships with local organizations.
Timeline: 2-3 months
Tasks:
Milestone 3: Launch CATH in underserved communities.
Timeline: 3-4 months
Tasks:
Expected Timeline: 6 months
Milestone 1: Invest in translation tools and services
Milestone 2: Hold CATH awareness and onboarding campaigns
Milestone 3: Invest in marketing activities and promotional activities
Launch CATH in underserved communities = (12,000 Ada)
Identify and reach out to African communities that are currently not represented in CATH = (4000 Ada)
Create localized versions of CATH materials and resources (16,000 Ada)
Organize local CATH events and meetups (20,000)
Contingency fund (for unforeseen expenses): (8000 Ada)
Administrative cost = (15,000 Ada)
Total Requested funds in Ada 75,000
The cost of the project is justified because it will generate significant value for the Cardano ecosystem. The project will help to expand the reach of the CATH, make the CATH more representative of the diversity of Africa, and demonstrate the value of the CATH to African communities and policymakers. These benefits will help to increase the adoption of Cardano in Africa and make the Cardano ecosystem more valuable to everyone involved.
NB: Monthly reporting was deprecated from January 2024 and replaced fully by the Milestones Program framework. Learn more here
Afia Owusu: A member of Wada community and Hub lead for Ghana, Active Cardano and Catalyst Community Member since Fund 6, Coordinator of Catalyst Africa Town Hall (CATH) and Catalyst Africa School. Has been a CA since F7 and a vCA in F8. Afia holds an MSc degree in Management Information Systems from the University of Lancaster, UK, and a BSC. (Hons) in Natural Resources Management, University of Science and Technology (UST), Kumasi, Ghana. Afia is a Ghanaian, and currently exploring new areas of sustainable development including Blockchain Education. Her interest is to educate and create awareness in communities to improve livelihood options among local people.
Role: Coordinator
Telegram: @AfiaAOwusu
Daniel is currently the President of FinTech and Blockchain Society at the University of Aberdeen and also Cardano Ambassador. He was a Host for the Cardano Summit 2022. He is currently acting as the Community Manager and Regional Integration for the Catalyst Africa Town Hall.
He is the Co-host at the Catalyst Africa School. Projects Manager for Cardano Peer Education (A Catalyst funded project to educate students about blockchain and how to guide students and bring their innovative ideas to be funded on Idea-scale.
He was a Community Advisor in Catalyst fund 7 and Catalyst Challenge Team Lead for ‘Scale-UP Cardano’s Community Hubs’ challenge settings for fund 8. Daniel envisioned using Blockchain Technology to bridge the gap between human capabilities and machine learning (AI & IoT) in developing countries.
Role: Community Manager and Regional Integration CATH
Telegram: :@ddlezu
Twitter: @ddlezu
Ubio Obu: CEO of RemoStart, A Blockchain Researcher and an AI expert and researcher with 4 years of experience in developing ML models. He has product management experience and has managed products that are in Agriculture, IoT, health, app development, etc. He has experience working with a range of tech stacks and has about 6 research publications in the field of Artificial Intelligence. His wide experience in tech development makes him ideal for the product management position in this solution. Successfully implemented a fund 9 awarded proposal. He will be in charge of coordinating with faculties and mentors for this project. He is a catalyst Facilitator collective member, organized the CIP-1694 Lagos event, was an African town hall coordinator, and was a moderator at the SingularityNet Deepfunding2 Pitchfest.
linkedin.com/in/ubio-obu-71927276/
Role: Community Manager - Nigeria
Discord: Ubiodee#9502
Boaz: A graduate in environment and sustainable development, this person assumes the role of team leader at the Goma Wada Hub and serves as a stake pool manager. His deep fascination with blockchain technology motivates his enthusiasm to actively participate in the captivating journey of Cardano. Additionally, he contributed as a co-proposer in F8 and F9, fulfilling the role of a NFT project coordinator in F9, and serving as a challenge team member in F10. And he is onboarding youth from Goma City in DR Congo on blockchain in general and Cardano in particular translating content in French. From March 2023 he is working on an analysis document for African stake pools.
Contacts:
Role: French Community Manager
Twitter: twitter.com/BoazB5475
Discord: Bboaz#5475
Richmond Oppong: Richmond is a graphic designer with over 10 years of experience in a variety of design disciplines, including logo design, print and poster design, business card design, 3D signage, and advertising and marketing. He holds a Higher National Diploma in Graphic Design from Takoradi Polytechnic in Ghana. He is also a member of the Wada community and the Design and Marketing Lead.
Richmond is a blockchain enthusiast and is actively involved in the Cardano project catalyst community. He was a Community Advisor in Catalyst funds 5 to 9, and a Veteran Community Advisor in funds 8 and 9. He was also a member of the Catalyst Challenge Team for the "Scale-UP Cardano's Community Hubs" challenge in fund 8. He is currently a member of the Catalyst Challenge Team for the "Startups & Onboarding for Students" challenge.
Role: Design and Marketing lead
Twitter: @cardanoholious