The Africa Blockchain Center, Africa’s premier blockchain development center, has announced the graduation of its first cohort of 105 blockchain developers from its Blockchain Programming training course. The 6-month program, which was led by a network of global experts, is a hands-on course that teaches students the fundamentals of blockchain technology and decentralized systems, as well as walks them through the various blockchain programming protocols, with a focus on Cardano, Algorand, and Ethereum.
The Africa Blockchain Center (The ABC), a Kenyan Web 3.0 company founded in September 2021 with the mission of propelling Africa into the adoption of 4IR (fourth industrial revolution) technologies by building capacity in blockchain programming and catalyzing industry readiness; offering solutions to enterprises interested in exploring the technology; and incubating blockchain startups and companies looking to transition from web 2.0 to web 3.0.
Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, Zambia, South Africa, and Benin are among the 105 graduates from six African countries. Decentralization in Information Systems, Principles of Decentralization, History and Operating Principles of Bitcoin, Blockchain Technology Fundamental Structures, Decentralization as an approach in Information Systems, Introduction to Asset Tokenization, Cryptography in decentralized systems, Application of decentralized approaches to system designs, Alternative digital currencies Introduction to Smart Contracts, Cryptographic Commitments in Accounting Systems, and Development of Existing Blockchain-Based Systems (Cardano, Ethereum, Algorand, IoTEX).
Jefferson Mkungusi, the CEO of Africa Blockchain Center, believes that Africa has great untapped potential when it comes to web3 development. “The youth that we have trained will be able to build innovative solutions that will enable Africa to leapfrog to a new era. The potential that blockchain has in solving some of the challenges that are facing Africa is massive, and we have not even scratched the surface. We aim to train 10,000 blockchain programmers, power 25,000 business leaders and executives on blockchain readiness, incubate 50 blockchain startups and launch robust solutions for the market in the next five years.” Said Mkungusi.
As the demand for blockchain solutions grows, the global blockchain industry is experiencing a skills shortage. A recent study conducted by LinkedIn Corp. and OKX using data collected from 180 countries between January 2019 and June 2022 revealed a supply and demand imbalance in the global blockchain field, with qualified candidates in short supply. According to the report, the number of LinkedIn members working in the blockchain space increased by 76% year on year through June, but the countries producing the most blockchain professionals are experiencing a decline in talent growth.
“There is not enough talent because of how novel the technology is. The technology was conceptualized hardly 13 years ago and it has been under speculation for years with no established pipeline for blockchain talent in place. We see the sector’s rapid expansion and aim to become the sector partner when it comes to blockchain capacity.” Further stated Mkungusi.
Many people enter blockchain as a hobby, developing their skills self-taught, informally, online alongside their day job which also makes evaluating potential hires an extra challenge because recruiters and hiring managers may not know what to look for (or the particular red flags) due to their own lack of experience and knowledge.
“There has been a 17% increase in the last few years on projects utilizing blockchain. From acquiring infrastructure for transparency in information sharing, to digital assets deployment and many other use cases, blockchain is earning its seat at the revolutionary-tech table. The newly trained ABC cohort will therefore become an added value into the blockchain ecosystem as they are open for new opportunities to support organizations in need of blockchain expertise in Africa and globally.” Concluded Mkungusi.
The Africa Blockchain Center invites blockchain stakeholders to join their ecosystem and gain in-depth knowledge of the functional and technical aspects of Blockchain technology, as well as access to the capacity required to deploy blockchain solutions in their businesses and industries.
