Last updated 7 months ago
Trust, legitimacy & ethical ownership of data in Ghana sports is complicated & often lacking documentation, leading to athlete identity confirmation issues - costing millions of $ in the process.
In an active partnership with the National Sports Authority of Ghana, JKG will create a soulbound Cardano digital identity system -Athlete Identity Token (AIT) as an MVP for Ghana then Africa.
This is the total amount allocated to AfriSports Chain - Enhancing professional sports & athletes..
Please provide your proposal title
AfriSports Chain - Enhancing professional sports & athletes.
Enter the amount of funding you are requesting in ADA
100000
Please specify how many months you expect your project to last
7
Please indicate if your proposal has been auto-translated
No
Original Language
en
What is the problem you want to solve?
Trust, legitimacy & ethical ownership of data in Ghana sports is complicated & often lacking documentation, leading to athlete identity confirmation issues - costing millions of $ in the process.
Supporting links
Does your project have any dependencies on other organizations, technical or otherwise?
Yes
Describe any dependencies or write 'No dependencies'
The National Sports Authority of Ghana is the primary dependency. JKG has entered a contract relationship with the NSA. While the contract cannot be shared due to terms and conditions with the Ministry, an Endorsement letter from the National Sports Authority Ghana with scope of authorities and permissions that can be disclosed are included. There are some project information that cannot be shared by the government, ministry or JKG until a press conference is held in the very near future. See supporting documentation #2 link for NSA Endorsement letter.
Will your project's outputs be fully open source?
Yes
License and Additional Information
MIT - Github repository
Please choose the most relevant theme and tag related to the outcomes of your proposal.
Authentication
Describe what makes your idea innovative compared to what has been previously funded (whether by you or others).
Just Keep Going Inc' concept is the first of its kind and the first step in blockchaining on Cardano/Midnight a national sport infrastructure. The NSA of Ghana is working hand in hand with JKG to modernize 54 Federations, stadiums, infrastructure & athletes to ethically & transparently provide atheletes, with their data (soulbound)so they can monetize their journey via fund raising, fan support and other external capital sources to train, compete, have legitimate age/identity credentials for travel to International competitition and ultimate success with self-owned decentralized data.
Describe what your prototype or MVP will demonstrate, and where it can be accessed.
An MVP will be developed in Ghana with a small number of elite athletes eg weightlifters/boxers/rugby & trialed by the NSA staff. The MVP will develop an AIT (enhanced DID) Athlete Identification Token. The AIT will incorporate smart contract information, Gender, Nationality, Sport, Focus(s) (eg Track:100 meter sprint + high jump), certified by the NSA. The SC(s) will be developed to include payment data with relevant Federation & include a module for Fan and diaspora athlete support. The AIT will be developed so the athelete owns the future of their data. Github repo access.
Describe realistic measures of success, ideally with on-chain metrics.
-The biggest measure of success-an executed contract with the Ghana National Sports Authority. Signed 8/4/2025. (see docs)
The contract & support of the Ghanian Ministry & NSA was essential to project!
Please describe your proposed solution and how it addresses the problem
Modernizing Ghana’s Sports Ecosystem. Sustainable, Transparent, and Inclusive Athlete Development Through Blockchain and AI.
The landscape of sports development in Ghana, and across much of Africa, is marked by systemic inefficiencies that severely limit athletic potential and international competitiveness. Despite a wealth of natural talent, Ghanaian athletes face formidable structural barriers. This includes fragmented administrative systems, inadequate funding mechanisms, logistical disarray, and a profound absence of verifiable athlete data. These gaps are not isolated incidents but symptoms of a broader collapse in institutional support. Out of 54 national sports federations, many remain unfunded or critically underfunded at all levels of competition, forcing athletes and federations alike to rely on self-financing and ad hoc external sponsorship just to participate in continental events.
A recent case in point underscores the depth of this crisis. In April 2025, elite weightlifters from Ghana were set to compete at the African Championships in Mauritius, a crucial qualifier for international recognition and Olympic pathways. Despite being among the continent’s top performers, these athletes could not attend without intervention from Just Keep Going Inc. (JKG). JKG secured sponsorship through Rejuve Biotech. However, even with travel facilitated, the delegation arrived without sufficient funds for food, accommodation, or local transportation basic needs essential for dignified participation. JKG again stepped in, covering some subsistence and operational costs. One athlete, under this support, earned three silver medals in the men’s super-heavyweight category. This affirms not only Ghana’s competitive caliber, but also the tragic disparity between talent and opportunity.
This scenario illustrates a central problem. Ghana lacks a coherent, reliable infrastructure to identify, certify, support, and sustain elite athletic performance. Foundational systems, such as birth registration, age and gender verification, as well as internationally recognized identity documentation are either absent or non-digital. This impedes participation in sanctioned global competitions. Payment structures are archaic, opaque, and vulnerable to mismanagement, with no mechanism for traceable funding flows or accountability. The current system of African sports development, introduces societal and institutional skepticism that often relegates athletics to a secondary pursuit, undermining long-term investment in talent pipelines.
To address these deep-rooted challenges, Just Keep Going Inc. has initiated a multi-year strategic partnership with the National Sports Authority (NSA) of Ghana. JKG will comprehensively modernize the nation’s sports ecosystem through AI-driven automation and blockchain-based trust infrastructure. The initiative—codenamed AfriSports Chain—is designed to rebuild Ghana’s sports governance from the ground up, starting with the creation of a verifiable, tamper-proof athlete identity layer.
Phase 1: The Athlete Identity Token (AIT) – Establishing Trust at the Human Level
The cornerstone of the AfriSports Chain MVP is the Athlete Identity Token (AIT), a soul-bound, non-transferable digital credential built on the Cardano blockchain. The AIT will serve as an immutable, cryptographically secure identity for athletes, validated and certified by the NSA. It will encode verified metadata, including age, gender, federation affiliation, competition history, and biometric references—all aligned with international standards for athlete eligibility.
This approach leverages Cardano’s advanced capabilities in decentralized identity and verifiable credentials, as demonstrated by projects like Atala PRISM and CIP-1694, which established on-chain governance and identity frameworks during the Voltaire era. By anchoring athlete identities on-chain, Ghana will eliminate ambiguity in age-group competition, prevent fraud, and create a trusted foundation for funding, travel, and athlete development.
The rollout will begin with certification of existing elite and senior professional athletes, ensuring immediate utility in upcoming international events. Over time, the AIT system will expand across all 54 federations and cascade down to youth and junior athletes. This will create a national talent registry and enable data-informed decision-making.
Scalable Infrastructure: From Identity to Intelligent Funding and Operations
The AIT is not an endpoint but the trust layer upon which a full suite of systems will be built. AfriSports Chain will integrate:
-Smart contracts to automate athlete funding disbursements, ensuring that sponsorships and grants are released only upon verified conditions—such as arrival at competition venues, compliance with training logs, or performance benchmarks..
-Transparent payment rails that allow diaspora communities, private sponsors, and government entities to contribute directly to athlete development, with real-time tracking and auditability.
-Digital travel and visa documentation pathways, linked to AIT data, to streamline international competition logistics.
Fan engagement platforms with tokenized loyalty and contribution models, fostering sustainable domestic support.
-Long-term, this integrated system will position Ghana to not only develop multiple Olympic contenders, but to justify a credible bid to host the Olympic Games within the next two decades—a transformative goal rooted in foundational reform rather than aspiration alone.
Why This Matters Now?
Africa produces some of the world’s most gifted athletes, yet systemic neglect continues to erode potential. By combining blockchain immutability, AI-driven automation, and public-private collaboration, AfriSports Chain offers a replicable model for sports modernization across the continent. Ghana’s partnership with JKG sets a precedent: technology can restore trust, unlock talent, and democratize opportunity.
With strategic funding and continued collaboration, AfriSports Chain will transform Ghana’s athletic future—one athlete, one identity, one competition at a time.
Please define the positive impact your project will have on the wider Cardano community
This project marks a historic milestone: the first nationwide integration of blockchain technology into a national sports ecosystem. Through a formal partnership with the Ghana National Sports Authority (NSA) and solidified by a contract signed on August 5, 2025—Just Keep Going Inc. will deploy decentralized solutions for athletes across 54 sports federations, 4 major stadiums (with scalability for future infrastructure), thousands of athletes, and key sports administrative systems under NSA’s jurisdiction.
By leveraging Cardano’ or Midnight's secure, scalable, and sustainable blockchain infrastructure initiative will:
Modernize Ghanaian Sports Governance and introduce transparent, tamper-proof record-keeping for athlete registrations, competition results, funding allocations, and federation compliance. This will build institutional trust and reduce inefficiencies and corruption risks.
Empower athletes, sponsors, and donors through Smart Contracts by enabling automated, verifiable, and transparent payments to athletes via smart contracts. This will ensure timely compensation tied to performance, national representation, or sponsorship deals which are critical for amateur and elite athletes alike.
Engage fans and diaspora like never before by building direct, meaningful connections between fans (especially the global Ghanaian diaspora) and their favorite athletes or teams through NFT-based memorabilia, fan tokens, and interactive experiences, creating new revenue streams and community engagement.
Pioneer a replicable model for Africa and beyond. Ghana’s sports sector is a microcosm of broader challenges across the continent. There is a lack of transparency, underfunded talent, and fragmented data systems. This project establishes a blueprint for blockchain-enabled sports ecosystems, ready for adoption by other African nations and emerging economies.
Introduce Blockchain Literacy at Scale through this phased rollout. Starting with the NSA leadership, elite athletes, and fan communities this blockchain implementation will serve as a foundational education campaign, demystifying blockchain and showcasing its real-world utility beyond finance.
Catalyze Multi-Sector Government Adoption. Success in sports creates a springboard for blockchain integration into other areas such as education, healthcare, land registry by thoroughly demonstrating the ROI, public trust, and institutional readiness.
Launch the AIT (Athlete Identity & Trust) System. This project will incubate the AIT system, a sovereign digital identity solution for athletes built on Cardano. AIT ensures secure, verifiable credentials and payment histories, empowering athletes to access international grants, sponsorships, and career opportunities with cryptographic proof of achievement.
With Ghana already taking center stage in African sports by hosting the 2025 African Junior & Youth Weightlifting Championships and securing recognition for Ghana's ability to compete and host events; this initiative positions the nation as a potential leader in sports innovation on the continent.
JKG is starting with sports; a unifying and emotionally resonant sector. We are not just building tech. We’re building trust, equity, and opportunity on a national level, one block at a time.
What is your capability to deliver your project with high levels of trust and accountability? How do you intend to validate if your approach is feasible?
The JKG team has several high level members that have successfully delivered a project from F7 - Cardano4Seniors. Two team members are founding members of the SingularityNet Ambassador program and one is involved with the DeepFunding ecosystem and Rejueve Bio. Kevin Frey, CEO and Founder is a Board Member of the International Ethics Board, headquartered in Toronto, Canada, which will be a key factor in ensuring ethical data use of the Athletes data. Additionally, Marie Agbah-Hughes co-founder of JKG is an elite athlete, trained health professional and the Ghana National female weight lifting record holder. The team also has two Ghanian developers/Engineers on board who are proficient in a number of coding languages (see Cvs in links 3 &4 of "Supporting Documentation") and the team has identified and will add talent per the proposal.
Additionally, and with open arms we have as an advisor to assist with AI, ethical development and science based aspects of our larger scope - Kennedy Matsagas Schaal, the Founder & CEO of Rejuve Biotech.
The diversity of the team allows strong tech scope; athlete contact, representation, understanding with empathy and strong liason with the NSA; as well as Wall Street business and Web 3 experience for managing finances, budgets, understanding the value of partnerships, advisors, colaboration required to reach and exceed goals, along with needed skills to successfully navigate a competitive landscape.
Milestone Title
Team assembly and tool acquisition. Roadmap developed.
Milestone Outputs
EOM 1
}NSA Contract
}team assembled,
}Roadmap,
}5 elite athletes contracted,
}tools acquired
Budget
Acceptance Criteria
The criteria for acceptance for MS1 is:
*NSA contract - _completed 8/5/25\._
_ * _Senior 3 member JKG team assembled - completed 7/1/25.
* forming initial senior team of Ghanian developers - _completed 7/31/25_,
*translators identified, contacted and contracted,
*video and graphics expert identified, contacted and contracted,
*Additional coders, developers identified, contacted and contracted,
*Subscription to the tools required executed,
*Github and web/url obtained.
*5 Elite athletes from Ghana NSA under contract -completed 7/15/25.
_*6. _External Talent identified, contracted.
*7. Roadmap written and Published
Evidence of Completion
Delivery Month
1
Cost
10000
Progress
10 %
Milestone Title
Plutus Development started
Milestone Outputs
}Plutus development initiated,
-test net minting live
-soulbound metadata established.
- CIP 0068 updates reflect in real time.
}verifyable npm(Node Package Manager) + GitHub,
}Record first dev update video to keep community informed of progress
Roles / Hours / Rate(ada/hr) / Total (ada)
-Lead Plutus Architect 600 hours @25 ada = $15,000
-2 Plutus Developers 1000 hours @20 ada = $20,000
Acceptance Criteria
Evidence of Completion
Delivery Month
3
Cost
35000
Progress
40 %
Milestone Title
AIT DEV- AIT core contracts complete; testnet minting live
Milestone Outputs
MONTH4
}Github - AfriDevKit SDK v0.1 complete,
}SDK published,
}10+ repos integrate in testnet.
}Explorer,
}NSA Issued dApp v1.0,
}NSA staff mint for testing,
}5 test AITs with completed soulbound metadata
Budget - Hours / rate /total
-Frontend Engineer 400 hours @ 18 ada = 7,200
-Identity Protocol Designer 300 hours @ 22 = 6,600
-SDK & API designer 400 hours @18 ada = 7,200
Acceptance Criteria
1.NSA dApp v1.0 issued in testnet and presented for community viewing,
2.test AITS for contracted Ghanian athletes issued with metadata (subject to improvement/change),
3.Github repository of Afri-Sports v0.1,
4.NSA staff signs off on testmint.
Evidence of Completion
1.Delivery of Afrisports DApp v1.0 testnet,
2.The testnet AITs for 5 Ghanian atletes produced,
3.The Github Repository for AfriSports published and public,
4.NSA staff/Minister signs off on the testmint demonstrating they were onboarded and understanding how to verify credentials and certify athletes.
Delivery Month
4
Cost
21000
Progress
60 %
Milestone Title
NSA dApp live (testnet); SDK v0.1 released
Milestone Outputs
MONTH5
}Demo Video,
}Public Docs hub,
}tutorials in writing for NSA staff on DApp,
}3 videos - English + Twi, French subs.
Budget hours / rate /total
-Technical Writer 300 hours @12 ada = 3,600
-Miscellanous expense = 400
-Video &Visual Designer-200 hours @$15 = 3,000
to deliver 4 dev videos, infographics.
-DevOps & Infrastructure-250 hours @$16 = 4000
CI/CD, nodes, GitHub automation"
Acceptance Criteria
1.Delivery and presentation to the community the update video on the projects progress,
2.Public docs updated and presented in Github, etc,
3.Tutorials delivered,
4.Videos delivered in English, Twi and French.
Evidence of Completion
The completion evidence will be:
with subset translations,
public documents in Github including tutorials on product.
1 video report/update for community.
Delivery Month
5
Cost
11000
Progress
70 %
Milestone Title
Community onboarding - Security Reports
Milestone Outputs
MONTH 6
1.Security Audit Report preliminary completed,
2.Public report with timeline fixes and video,
3.IPFS link,
4.CIP draft submission,
5.Draft CIP:AIT,
6.Forum Post.
Budget:
-Codebase & sdk review / Dependency & logic security scan $2,000.
-Codebase & sdk review
Dependency & logic security scan $2,000.
Acceptance Criteria
1.Preliminary audit report on code with a passing score,
2.Written reports with all roadmap and timeline timeline fixes, the video and any drafts submitted,
3.Forum Post with Bug bounty announcement.
Evidence of Completion
1.Submitted external third party audit report,
2.Second community video and report submitted,
3.Forum post,
4.Rules set and bug bounty program initiated.
Delivery Month
6
Cost
4000
Progress
80 %
Milestone Title
Audit completion and mainnet launch
Milestone Outputs
Month 7
1.Closeout report,
2.required documentation,
4.Mainnet.
Budget:
\Closeout Report and Video 40 hours@$25 = 1,000
\Smart Contract Audit of AIT and core llgic by 3rd party
$7,000.
\Micro bug bounty program / reward community for critical bug reports $1,500.
\Project Manager/ Catalyst Liason 300@ $18= $5,400 Reporting timelines, community updates .
\Security Consultant (External) 100@$20 = $2,000
Threat modeling, audit prep, best practices.
\Misc $2,100
Acceptance Criteria
1.Succesfull bug bounty program close with any bugs fixed and re-audited,
3.Mainnet launch of projrct,
4.Github updated and fully documented,
5.Final Community closeout report.
Evidence of Completion
1.Github repository,
2.Audit report & Bug Bounty -pass,
3.Mainnet DApp.
4.Video and written community report.
Delivery Month
7
Cost
19000
Progress
100 %
Please provide a cost breakdown of the proposed work and resources
ROLE \ HOURS. \ RATE (ADA)/HOUR \. TOTAL ADA \ KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
-Plutus Architect / 600 / 25 /15,000/ Protocol design, CIP alignment, core contracts.
-Plutus Devs (2)/1,000 / 20/ 20,000/ write-test AIT, escrow access control logic.
-Frontend Engineer / 400 / 18 / 7,200 / NSA Issuer Dapp, UI flows, wallet integration.
-Identity Protocol Designer / 300 / 22 / 6,600/ Soulbound logic, metadata schema, privacy.
-SDK & API Dev / 400, 18. 7200 / Build SDK, REST Layer, examples.
-Technical Writer / 300 / 12 / 3600 / Docs, tutorials, cip draft, explainer content.
-Video & Visual Designer / 200 / 15 / 3000/ 5 dev videos, infographics, ui assets.
-Project Manager- Catalyst Liason / 300 / 18 / 5400 / Reporting timelines, community updates.
-DevOPs & Infrastructure / 250 / 16 / 4000 / Cl/CD nodes, Github automation.
-Security Consultant (External) / 100 /20 / 2000 / Threat modeling, audit prep, best practices.
Human Talent sub-total = $74,000ada (74% of total budget).
ITEM \. USE CASE \ COST(ADA)
_ -Blockfrost Pro -6 mos / real time AIT indexing, explorer backend / $1,500_
Tooling & Ops Subtotal = $15,000
-Smart Contract Audit / full audit of AIT and core logic by 3rd party / $7,000.
-Codebase & sdk review / Dependency & logic security scan / $2,000.
-Public audit report hosting / ipfs + website (immutable, verifiable) / $500.
-Micro bug bounty program / reward community for critical bug reports / $1,500.
SECURITY SUBTOTAL = $11,000
-Human Talent = $74,000 / 74%
-Tooling & Infrastructure = $15,000 / 15%
-Security & Vaidation = $11,000 / 11%
TOTAL REQUESTED = $100,000 / 100%
How does the cost of the project represent value for the Cardano ecosystem?
AfriSports in the first of kind project in many aspects including the first step in blockchaining an entire countries sports ecosystem with the Cardano/Midnight chains being used to reach thousands of athletes over the 54 federations comprising the National Sports Alliance of Ghana. With this intial MVP of establishing soulbound identity or AITs for the Ghana NSA the tech will be able to be exported to other sports systems. The AIT development is a first block in a series of blocks to be put in place - under contract and cooperation with the NSA to: digitilize, blockchain and introduce AI into the complete ecosystem of the Ghana NSA (National Sports Authority) which includes 54 Federations, 10+ Stadiums, many structures, hundreds of elite athletes and thousands of youth and amatuer athletes. The blocks will build upon each other to include stadium infrastructure, ticketing, fan engagement, diaspora outreach and sponsorship possibilities for Olympic hopefuls and Professional players. This is the first in a 20 year plan to position Ghana to host the Olympic Games. The community reach for Cardano ecosystem is potentially across the entire country and into many other country sports systems and their athletic communities. Sports have been proven over hundreds of years as a systematic methodology to lift national spirits in the furthest corners of a country via patriotic enthusiasm. National sports programs have also been proven to lift economic and infrastructure of Countries and regions due to fan participation and adoption. The Cardano Community with the adoption of this proposal will be assisting a public - private partnership with the National Sports Authority of Ghana. The success of this project, helped by many community members, volunteers, ecos partners and others will potentially bring the Cardano ecosystem and Blockchain to other governmental divisions and eventually other countries and continents. Thank you and we appreciate your support and suggestions for improvement.
Terms and Conditions:
Yes
Kevin Frey, Founder of JKG is lead team member, co-founder of Cardano4Seniors a successfull F7 initiative, a founding SingularityNet Ambassador and Board Member of The International Board Of Ethics (IBE). https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-frey-86860632?
Marie Korkor Agbah-Hughes, co-founder of JKG is a Professional weightlifter and currently the Ghanian Female weight lifting record holder. Marie is also a certified health and fitness specialist with a background in nursing, athlete development and a multi-year weight lifting coach. She is a passionate advocate for Women in Sports.
Musah Ibrahim Ali - Team Member with skills in AI/IoT Engineering; Full Stack Development; Machine Engineering; IT support; Graphic Design and Software Developer. He has a B.Sc in Electronic Engineering from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana. Besides English he is fluent in Hausa and Twi. https://www.linkedin.com/in/musah-ibrahi-ali-820600ab
Emmanuel Aeyaw - Team Member and SingularityNet Ambassador with experience in AI Tooling, Back End Developer with Python, Django and PostgreSQL database experience, Basic Solidity programming, Python, Css, HTML and JavaScript. He has a Bsc in Computer Science from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology.
Tommy Frey (Graybeard/Wawa) Team Member/COO is currently working with Deepfunding and is also a founding Snet Ambassador and long time Cardano Maxi with many rounds of Catalyst Reviewing and successful proposing. He is retired from Wall Street Risk Management and fruit farming. https://linkedin.com/in/tommy-frey-08095327
Kennedy Matsagas Schaal - Advisor is the Founder & CEO, Rejuve Biotech; SingularityNet and Artificial Superintelligence Alliance collaborator, Lead researcher of Methuselah Flies a longevity breeding experiment, International speaker on AI, longevity and decentralized research.