Co-organizers: Laurentine & Boaz
Moderator: Nico
A Cross-Border Collaborative Initiative
Within a series of ongoing workshops, the francophone Cardano community across Africa continues exploring how blockchain technology can tackle the continent’s most pressing challenges. This collaborative movement brings together voices from Burkina Faso, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, and neighboring regions, all sharing a unified goal: turning everyday obstacles into opportunities for technological innovation.
Recent discussions have shown remarkable progress, shifting from theoretical conversations to actionable solution proposals. This evolution demonstrates the growing sophistication of a community committed to making blockchain a practical tool for socio-economic transformation rather than an abstract concept.
The Force of Change: An Inspiring Vision
Among the most powerful moments in these discussions came when someone applied Newton’s first law to African technological development. “An object at rest stays at rest until a force is applied to it” became a compelling metaphor that challenged conventional thinking about Africa’s relationship with innovation.
This perspective highlighted how Africa isn’t “resting” as many assume, but actively innovating—perhaps at its own pace, but with remarkable creativity. The real question isn’t whether Africa is ready for technology, but what force should be applied to accelerate the innovation already underway.
In this framework, blockchain serves as that transformative force, capable of unlocking existing potential. Rather than disrupting functioning systems, blockchain can propel and optimize what systemic inefficiencies have previously hindered. Money transfers stalled by excessive fees, farmers denied credit through bureaucratic maze, producers cheated by exploitative middlemen—blockchain offers concrete solutions to these persistent problems.
Monetary Solutions: From Theory to Practice
The most substantial conversations focused on monetary circulation issues, especially concerning regions where bank withdrawals have become increasingly difficult. Several innovative approaches emerged from these discussions.
The Stablecoin Approach
The first solution centers on stablecoins to eliminate volatility issues typically associated with cryptocurrencies. Participants illustrated this with a practical example: a merchant accepting volatile cryptocurrency payment might watch their transaction value drop between sale and conversion. Stablecoins, pegged to stable reference currencies, remove this risk while preserving blockchain benefits.
Physical Infrastructure and Interoperability
A more ambitious second proposal involves establishing physical exchange points for ADA deposits and withdrawals, integrated with existing Mobile Money services and Cardano wallets. This infrastructure would enable seamless fund transfers between systems, bridging traditional and blockchain economies.
A Revealing Use Case: The ADAX Project
One of the most enlightening discussions featured an operational project: ADAX, an application built by a Congolese team enabling direct ADA-to-Mobile Money conversion. This solution perfectly demonstrates how blockchain innovations can emerge from African soil to address specific local needs.
ADAX proved its worth during Congo’s conflict period, showing resilience and practical value in challenging circumstances. Users can convert cryptocurrencies to local currency directly through their phones, bypassing expensive intermediaries—particularly valuable where traditional banking services remain limited.
The discussion also addressed technical challenges the project has faced, including aggregator issues that temporarily restricted service expansion. This honest assessment of obstacles reflects the community’s mature approach and commitment to learning from each experience.
The Training Challenge: Building Future Skills
The most animated exchanges revolved around technical education needs. A clear argument emerged emphasizing the importance of developing skills before deploying solutions. This pragmatic stance recognizes that without adequate technical capabilities, communities risk “citing many solutions without being able to implement them.”
Technical Training and Local Development
These conversations revealed an active training network where young developers master Plutus and Haskell—Cardano’s specialized programming languages—under experienced mentorship. This initiative proves that advanced technical skills can flourish even in resource-constrained environments.
Proposals to expand this training network across francophone countries generated significant interest. Such collaboration would dramatically increase access to specialized technical education and build a critical mass of blockchain developers throughout the region.
Interoperability and Technical Challenges
The most detailed technical discussions examined interoperability between existing systems and Cardano blockchain. These exchanges revealed the complexity involved in connecting Mobile Money accounts to cryptocurrency wallets, along with practical implementation challenges.
Participants explored various approaches, from direct solutions to multi-step processes involving intermediate exchanges. These conversations highlighted opportunities for improving existing solutions and identified promising development directions.
Adoption and Resistance: A Realistic Approach
Participants engaged in candid discussions about adoption challenges, particularly potential resistance from governments and established institutions. A fundamental question emerged: should solutions be created on principle, or should focus remain on real problems requiring concrete answers?
This inquiry guided the conversation toward a more pragmatic approach, where proposed solutions must address genuine needs and convince end users of their practical value. Participants acknowledged that successful adoption requires extensive education and outreach among merchants and consumers.
Long-term Vision and Legacy
A noteworthy aspect of these discussions involves the community’s long-term perspective. Even if current governments resist these innovations, participants believe documenting and developing solutions for future generations remains essential. This approach represents an investment in the continent’s technological future.
Commitments and Future Perspectives
The exchanges produced concrete commitments for upcoming phases. A dedicated session for operational projects is planned, featuring detailed presentations of functionalities, technical challenges, and expansion prospects for existing solutions.
A comprehensive training plan is under development, covering technical blockchain development aspects, communication strategies, and decision-maker outreach approaches. This initiative aims to create curriculum tailored to francophone Africa’s specific needs.
Expanding the technical training network represents one of the most significant commitments. Connections with international trainers already active in the region will broaden access to specialized education and create regional skill development momentum.
Towards an African Blockchain Ecosystem
These exchanges demonstrate remarkable evolution in approaching blockchain challenges throughout francophone Africa. The community has moved beyond theoretical discussions to address practical implementation, training, and adoption questions. The conversations reveal nuanced understanding of technical, economic, and social issues surrounding technology adoption.
The emphasis on technical education, local solution development, and adaptation to ground-level realities reflects genuine commitment to building an indigenous blockchain ecosystem. Concrete examples of operational projects prove that practical solutions can be successfully developed and implemented, even in resource-limited contexts.
The combination of inspiration and pragmatism characterizing these initiatives provides a solid foundation for developing a robust African blockchain ecosystem adapted to local realities. This collaborative and inclusive approach perfectly illustrates how local communities can adopt emerging technologies and adapt them to their specific needs.
The initiative demonstrates that creating conditions for indigenous and sustainable technological development is possible, where solutions emerge from grassroots needs and are developed by the communities themselves. This dynamic represents a promising model for the continent’s technological future.