INDUSTRY WATCH
WE AIM TO TRAIN 10,000 BLOCKCHAIN PROGRAMMERS , POWER 25,000 BUSINESS LEADERS AND EXECUTIVES ON BLOCKCHAIN READINESS , INCUBATE 50 BLOCKCHAIN START-UPS AND LAUNCH ROBUST SOLUTIONS FOR THE MARKET IN THE NEXT FIVE YEARS .
The Africa Blockchain Centre the premier centre of excellence for Blockchain development in Africa , recently announced the graduation of its first cohort of 105 Blockchain developers under its Blockchain Programming training course . The programme , which took six months , and was run by a network of global experts , is a practical based course that teaches the learners the core fundamentals of Blockchain technology and decentralised systems and takes them through the various Blockchain programming protocols with a focus on Cardano , Algorand and Ethereum .
The Africa Blockchain Centre is a Kenyan Web 3.0 company launched in September 2021 with a mission to propel Africa into the adoption of Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies by building capacity in Blockchain programming and catalysing industry readiness ; offering solutions to enterprises seeking to explore the technology , and incubating Blockchain start-ups and companies looking to transition from web 2.0 to web 3.0 .
The 105 graduates are from six African countries including Kenya , Nigeria , Tanzania , Zambia , South Africa and Benin . Key learning points from the training that the learners were exposed to includes but not limited to ; Decentralisation in Information Systems , Principles of Decentralisation , History and operating Principles of Bitcoin , Blockchain Technology Fundamental structures , Decentralisation as an approach in information systems , Introduction to Asset Tokenisation , Cryptography in decentralised systems , Application of decentralised approaches to system designs , Alternative digital currencies and tokenisation , Introduction to Smart Contracts , Features and roles of cryptographic commitments in accounting systems and Development of existing Blockchain-based systems ( Cardano , Ethereum , Algorand , IoTEX ).
Jefferson Mkungusi , CEO , Africa Blockchain Centre , said 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 start-ups and launch robust solutions for the market in the next five years ,” Mkungusi said .
As the demand for Blockchain solutions increases , the global Blockchain industry has a shortfall of skilled candidates . A recent study by LinkedIn Corp . and OKX using data collected from 180 countries between January 2019 and June 2022 revealed an imbalance in the supply and demand of talent in the global Blockchain field , with qualified candidates in short supply . Data from the report shows that the number of LinkedIn members working in the Blockchain space has grown by 76 % year on year through June , but the countries that produce the most Blockchain professionals are experiencing a decline in talent growth .
Mkungusi added : “ There is not enough talent because of how novel the technology is . The technology was conceptualised 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 .”
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
Jefferson Mkungusi , CEO , Africa Blockchain Centre
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