JOHNANNESBURG 23 April 2021 - Blockchain technology such as cryptocurrencies continue to rapidly grow in Africa. The continent provides a potential leapfrog opportunity as the young tech savvy population has already embraced mobile financial products.
Africa is witnessing an economic boost that has nothing to do with banks or an overhaul of outdated economic policies.

Monthly cryptocurrency transfers to and from Africa under $10,000 rose by 55% in the beginning of 2020, reaching a peak of $316 million in June 2020 according to Deutsche Welle Africa.

Out of the 3 billion global mobile phones users, 475 million are in Sub-Saharan Africa. 272 million are mobile internet users that’s 44% of all mobile users.

Though COVID-19 has had a huge impact on the digital landscape, Sub-Saharan mobile industry has largely risen to the challenge of keeping individuals and businesses connected during the pandemic. This is despite 800 million people in the region still not connected to the mobile internet.

How does this digital divide get covered? According to United Africa Blockchain Association (UABA), education will play a key role as an economic driving factor. We have witnessed how mis-information has eroded trust across many sectors. To gain trust again a multi-sector approach will have to be taken. It is a bridge for knowledge of financial products and mobile communication products to potential consumers. Also, an opportunity to offer new value to existing consumers. And lastly an opportunity to improve the quality of life for the region.

For this reason, UABA and Celo are partnering to raise awareness that will ensure that Africans have the access to appropriate tools, platform, and information to build solutions and leverage to solve problems in their immediate environment.

'Education is one of our key priorities in the Celo ecosystem and we are super excited about this partnership with a mission-aligned organization as UABA,’ says Peter Oluwashina, Africa Growth Lead at Clabs, working on Celo.

‘The Train-the-Trainer Initiative 2021, UABA is kicking off will ensure that the education of blockchain technology gets to the grassroots level that’s the people who actually need it the most. Celo is a mobile-first platform and Africa is a mobile-driven continent.’

This awareness drive will take place under UABA’s ‘One Million for Blockchain' campaign. As the name implies, the association has a vision of reaching a million people on the African continent with knowledge of the nascent technology.

To achieve this target, each year the organization conducts a training event called ‘Trainer the Train Initiative’ (TTT). The ingenious initiative ensures exponential growth in awareness as participants are equipped to train others. The initiative has been running for 2 years now, and has successfully conducted training sessions in 2019.

The partnership will ensure that 500 -1000 registered participants from 20 countries will receive a free course in Blockchain technology. In order to bring value and incentives, Celo will provide access to several of their programs to developers borne out of TTT21 course. The month-long course will begin on 5th May 2021.

“This partnership has shown that there is still hope for humanity and prosperity for all even during a pandemic. By embarking on this journey with UABA, Celo has proven once again that Blockchain can be used for good,” said Yaliwe Soko, Chairperson at UABA.

On 3rd May UABA will host the ‘TTT21 Extravaganza Online’ event. This event will be a precursor to the training program. It will bring together 10 speakers, registered TTT21 learners, organisations and the African community at large. It will focus on the importance of education as a key driver for blockchain technology mass adoption. As well as act as an open day for the TTT21 registered participants.

The event will be held live on Airmeet, the virtual event platform. Those seeking to attend can register on the provided link below: https://www.airmeet.com/e/ff085450-a1c4-11eb-8541-19362da1a962