African Blockchain Centre for Devs

• Train elite Blockchain devs in Africa
• Establish the best Blockchain solution provider in Africa
• Build technical elite of the future Africa

Joshua, Gwen and the ABCD teams run the initiative for a year and already assembled a first cohort of 14 promising blockchain developers.

As social entrepreneurs and blockchain enthusiasts focused on Africa, how can we contribute to and take advantage of the emergence of Blockchain technology in Africa to create a new dynamic on the continent and make it the new digital El Dorado ?

STRATEGIC CONTEXT

• Lack of trained Blockchain developers (worldwide) and their prohibitive cost
• Acknowledgment / credibility of African developers from those looking to hire
• African brains trot to the Western countries
• The emergence of disruptive technologies such as Blockchain
• The rise of Web 3.0
• The median age of 20 and a population estimate of more than 2.5 billion by 2050 in Africa

SCOPE

• Train the best/elite Blockchain developers in Africa to meet the huge demands worldwide
• Make African developers acknowledged/credible to global companies
• Enable business opportunities on the continent
• Establish the best Blockchain skill/solution provider in Africa
• Make Africa becoming for Web 3.0 as India was for Web 2.0
• Build the technical elite of the future Africa

STAKEHOLDERS

• Technology providers (Cardano)
• Training provider (EMURGO)
• Governments and PanAfrican Institutions
• Financial institutions and banks
• Cardano Community (IOG, Cardano Foundation, etc.)
• Developers community throughout Africa

BARRIERS

• Financial resources available until sustainability
• Access to high-level officials
• Lack of legal framework for Blockchain solutions
• High rate of labour turnover
• Poor internet network coverage (for online courses)

OUTCOMES

• A steady increase in income for ABCD as a service provider
• Establishment of African enthusiasts/experts in blockchain technology solutions
• Creation of high paid jobs and business development throughout the continent
• Rise/adoption of blockchain technologies and decentralization in Africa
• Stimulation of innovative start-ups
• Address some of the most pressing issues in Africa (ID systems, land registration, etc.)

SUCCESS INDICATORS

• Total numbers of certified trainees
• Number of high-level officials trained
• Employment rate after 6 months, 1 year, and 5 years
• Average monthly salary of the trained developers
• Number of partnerships and companies using ABCD services
• Number of projects incubated by ABCD

ROADMAP

See below in attachments

BUDGET

The 37500$ we are requested for are meant to support the next cohort of 25 developers going through the EMURGO Certified Cardano Developer Associate and Professional sessions.

The overall cost of training one developers over the 4/5 months that requires our curriculum is approximately 1500$ including

• Cost of the training on the EMURGO learning platform
• Cost of the persons following up on the developers
• Regular meet-ups and events organised for the developers and the ABCD community
• Softwares and apps licences

TEAM

• Joshua Akpan :

Cardano Ambassador, he is known throughout the Cardano Community for his leadership and coordination of Blockchain Meetups, host on The Cardano Community, AfroFinLab and POA Podcasts, boots on the ground.
He is one of the collaborators and advocate for Proof of Africa (POA), Cardano Shelley Summit 2020 Presenter, and very active within the Liqwid finance project.
He defines himself as Social Media Evangelist for Cardano.

• Gino Osahon :

Gino is a software engineer, building softwares using Java and Spring Boot for backend applications, and also builds Android Applications. He is the founder of Google Developer group Port Harcourt, and the current lead organizer for Google Cloud developer group Port Harcourt.
He has contributed to building other groups such as Facebook developer circles, Andela learning community, Women techmakers Port Harcourt, DefCon Port Harcourt and others. He is the current manager for Ken Saro-Wiwa Innovation hub, one of the most active tech hubs in the Niger Delta. Recently, he joined ABCD as a developer advocate. Doing so, he helps to build the ABCD community by providing mentorship, access to resources and blockchain development tools for blockchain developer enthusiasts from Africa.
He writes technical contents, YouTube videos, and podcasts that can help upcoming blockchain developers.
Gino is passionate about youth development and how technology can be leveraged to solve some of Africa's most pressing challenges.

• Odum Destiny Felinah :

Destiny works as an assistant manager and content writer at ABCD. She would explain that the reason she joined ABCD is because of the beauty and core value of ABCD's mission and its heart for Africa's reconstruction.
Having a heart for impact and problem solving, ABCD seemed like a wonderful project to invest her writing and organizational skills in order to contribute to the uprising story of Africa. She also writes articles for Zoepool, a Cardano-driven stakepool with the mission of educating women in blockchain technology, contributing to the adoption of Cardano in Africa. Destiny Felinah is passionate about community building, engagement and education as a tool for mass reconstruction.
When she is not busy communicating with and organizing a cohort of developers, sending urgent emails and managing schedules, she's probably reading food science textbooks and learning how to live an optimum lifestyle of wellness and healthy eating. Perhaps, reading novels from the 70's-90's and taking lifestyle documentary photographs..

• Otobong Peter :

Otobong has worked in the webspace for some time and is an ardent believer in Technology as a tool for not only solving humanity's problems but allowing multiple persons to collaborate in doing so.
Recently, he has been delving deep into the Blockchain Space and believes it holds the key to restructuring humanity's socioeconomic future.

• Gwendal Le Divechen :

Gwen is a teacher, project facilitator and enthusiastic about the opportunities offered by the Cardano ecosystem.
Gwendal is seeking to bring his experience in project management in NGOs and private sector in Africa, Asia and EU to help developing relevant Cardano and blockchain related applications on the ground.
French native speaker, he will also help to deploy ABCD in french speaking countries (Senegal, Ivory Coast, etc.).