Introduction
The Celo Africa DAO, established in 2023, focuses on decentralising Celo’s growth through a grassroots approach to ecosystem development. Its mission is to empower African communities by onboarding builders, engaging users, and forging strategic partnerships to drive financial inclusion and innovation.
With a strong emphasis on developer acquisition and brand awareness in 2023, the DAO expanded its efforts in 2024 by providing robust support for early-stage builders through its incubator program. This initiative facilitated the development of impactful, real-world applications tailored to Africa’s unique challenges and opportunities, reinforcing Celo’s dedication to fostering localised innovation and cultivating a sustainable, inclusive ecosystem.
Achievements
To drive the success of the Celo Africa DAO, we focused our efforts on three key pillars: community growth and brand awareness, developer acquisition, and the incubator program. These strategic areas allowed us to build a strong foundation for ecosystem growth. In 2024, we achieved several notable milestones, reflecting our dedication to fostering innovation and engagement across the continent. These accomplishments showcase the DAO’s impact and commitment to empowering communities and developers while advancing Celo’s mission of financial inclusion and decentralized innovation.
Focus Areas
Incubator program
Supporting early-stage builders who often go unnoticed presents a transformative opportunity for the Celo ecosystem. These innovators are the foundation for creating localized solutions that address real-world challenges. By empowering them with resources, mentorship, and visibility, Celo can tap into untapped talent and foster sustainable growth. This approach not only strengthens the ecosystem’s diversity and reach but also aligns with its mission of enabling financial inclusion and driving impactful use cases in emerging market
- Attracted over 10 early-stage teams from across the African continent, innovating on diverse use cases aligned with African needs.
- Enabled 7+ projects to ship MVPs showcased during a highly successful demo day.
- Advanced 4+ projects into the Celo Camp accelerator, demonstrating their progress and potential.
- Secured grants of $30,000+ for 3+ projects through Prezenti to support pilots and growth initiatives.
- Launched 1 project on Minipay, with two alumni preparing to join the platform, marking a significant ecosystem impact.
- 1 project, Pretium Finance, successfully secured a pre-seed funding round from Verda Ventures, marking a significant milestone in its growth and showcasing its potential to innovate in the Web3 and fintech space.
- The Celo Africa DAO has strengthened its engineering capabilities by developing two key internal products: Token Tracker and Paylink. These tools enhance the DAO’s operations while offering valuable support to ecosystem partners, further contributing to the growth and success of the Celo ecosystem.
Developer Talent & Acquisition
Developers play a critical role in driving innovation within the Celo ecosystem. Since 2022, we have organised developer meet-ups fostering collaboration and skill-sharing. Each year, we’ve witnessed remarkable progress in the projects showcased, reflecting the increasing impact and maturity of developer contributions.
- Hosted 37+ Developer Meet-ups: Across five African countries, fostering local blockchain communities and facilitating knowledge exchange among developers.
- Online Bootcamps: Organized two bootcamps that allowed developers to refine their skills and build innovative solutions using Celo’s blockchain.
- Hackathons: Successfully ran four hackathons, encouraging innovation and collaboration across the continent.
- Support for Build with Celo Hackathons: With a 60%+ participation & submission rate from Africa, we provided crucial support, helping African builders showcase their potential.
- Engaged 150+ Builders: These initiatives contributed to the deployment of projects, driving real-world applications of blockchain technology across Africa.
Community growth and market Awareness
This focus area is aimed at boosting Celo’s visibility across Africa while fostering a strong and engaged community. Through strategic initiatives like X (formerly Twitter Spaces), local event sponsorships, town halls, and partnerships, we have successfully expanded Celo’s user base and increased awareness. These efforts have attracted new developers and users, enhanced community engagement, and created stronger ties between Celo and local African markets, accelerating adoption and growth across the continent.
- Celo Gather Africa: A flagship event uniting over 200 participants, including 10+ investors, 50+ builders, and key ecosystem partners. The event facilitated in-depth discussions on the future of Celo, fostering collaboration and sparking innovative ideas to propel blockchain adoption across Africa.
- Town Halls: Conducted 3+ dynamic town halls where early-stage founders showcased their products and dApps, offering the community a firsthand look at groundbreaking solutions created by African developers.
- Event Sponsorships: Supported 4+ strategic events in Ghana, Nigeria, and Kenya, bringing together industry leaders, fintech innovators, and blockchain enthusiasts. These events amplified awareness and strengthened Celo’s local presence.
- Vitalik Documentary Screening: Hosted a captivating screening of the Vitalik Documentary in Kenya, Uganda and Nigeria, highlighting Ethereum’s impact. The event inspired local builders, fueling creativity and engagement within the community.
- Minipay Video Challenge campaign: Organized an online campaign on x(Twitter) yielding 92 video submissions with participants from over 4 countries reaching over 45k+ impressions and engagements. This video challenge campaign amplified Minipay’s adoption and awareness through user-generated content(videos) i.e. testimonials, tutorials and creative concepts.
Insights
As Celo transitions into a layer 2 ecosystem, the Celo Africa DAO aims to position itself as a strategic collaborator with the Celo Foundation and key ecosystem partners focused on emerging markets.
By providing targeted growth support, we aspire to empower partners such as Mento, Opera, and others to scale their impact and build solutions tailored to local needs. This collaboration will strengthen Celo’s presence in Africa while fostering innovation and inclusive financial tools in the region.
Looking Ahead
- Collaboration with Key Partners: Partner with Prezenti and Verda Ventures to support and scale the most promising builders across Africa, fostering innovation and sustainable growth.
- Quarterly Bootcamps and Incentives: Host quarterly bootcamps to train and mentor developers while actively tracking and rewarding the most engaged contributors to strengthen the ecosystem.
Conclusion
Looking at 2025, the DAO plans to scale efforts, deepen collaborations, and drive the adoption of Celo in Africa and prosperity for all.
Social Links
Twitter: x.com
Telegram: t.me/CeloAfrica
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