Hi Everyone!
My name is Will and I lead the Strategy, Research, and Innovation team at the Celo Foundation. In addition, I’m currently working on the Connect the World initiative which aims to build high quality ramps between Celo assets and fiat in 100 countries by April 2023 
Since we launched the program at Celo Connect last month we’ve had an overwhelming response from teams around the world. The purpose of this post is to provide a status update on Connect the World, share our upcoming priorities, and solicit feedback from the community.
Off to the races!
We’ve had dozens of partners reach out with interest in the program. In the last month we were able to sign Memorandums of Understandings (MOUs) with 13 partners, of which six (6) are undergoing diligence review. Four (4) are currently integrating FiatConnect and once complete will offer on and off-ramp coverage in 13 countries (see below).
Some observations:
- We have multiple providers competing for awards in certain countries, most notable Nigeria (3 providers) and Ghana (2 providers). Integrations for these countries are in active development.
- We have several partners who have committed but not yet integrated that are interested in Brazil and Colombia as well.
- We are seeing a lot of interest from partners in LATAM and SubSaharan Africa. However we need to improve outreach to partners working in Asia, Europe, and North America
Partnerships:
Our current list of Connect the World partners include:
AlphaFortress (Bitssa), BitMama, Bit2Big, Binusu, Cobru, Directa24, DuniaPay, EasyCrypto, El Dorado, Kaala (Wallet), KotaniPay, LoveCrypto, Noa, Node (Wallet), Paychant, RampBr, Umoja, Valora (Wallet)
These are partners that have committed to integrated FiatConnect and have signed agreements with the Celo Foundation. Work to integrate is still in progress.
Priorities for Next Week
- Getting started guide: We are working on external step-by-step resource to help onboard new partners to Connect the World and FiatConnect which should be launched next week
- Outbound BD: The priorities over the last month have been on working through the pipe of inbound partner interest and getting folks onboarded and through diligence review. We are turning our attention toward outbound BD to fill in geographic gaps and sourcing high-quality partners as well
Questions for the community
- In the interest of transparency, we want to do weekly updates about the CTW program. What information would you like to know for future updates?
- We want to be intentional about prioritizing country ramps. Are there countries we should focus on first? Please let us know below.