Please describe your proposed solution.

The Governance stage in Project Catalyst Cycle is a very important part of delivery of the vision of Cardano. If the right projects are not voted, the Project's Treasury will suffer because of poor delivery or unimpactful projects to Cardano and the community.

As Africa is getting to know about Cardano's intention towards decentralization, we in Africa want to participate fully in this laudable idea so that we can also vote for the right projects with value to impact positively in Africa.

Due to the above reason I want to form a team that will help educate a diverse population of DReps from different countries of Africa to be active and consistent voters in Cardano Project Catalyst.

The members who are already active as Proposers, Community Reviewers and individual voters are going to be encouraged to know the details of being a DRep, how important it is to be a DRep, how important it is to delegate your vote to a DRep and vote carefully the right projects for funding to benefit Cardano and the communities as well.

Within a span of 4 months, from November 2023 to February ending 2024, it is expected that a local DRep Group of 150 members would have been onboarded. This number could have a DRep with the others delegating their votes to the DRep. Education about DRep incentives will be done to motivate the members to participate.

This gesture will help to build DRep participation in Ghana, Africa and the Cardano Global community as a whole.

How does your proposed solution address the challenge and what benefits will this bring to the Cardano ecosystem?

The challenge is about increasing diverse DRep participation and also DReps to read proposals carefully to make the right judgement to vote correctly. This is what my proposal is seeking to do exactly. My proposal will onboard DReps from diverse communities with different languages and help to educate them fully to vote carefully to positively impact Cardano and communities as well.

Benefits:

• Local DReps will be onboarded
• DReps will be incentivized to be motivated to participate fully in the ecosystem
• Africa will be fully represented in the voting of the right projects that will impact positively.
• Cardano ecosystem will be effective and treasury funds will not be wasted on unimpactful projects.
• Decentralization will be fully realized.
• Cardano will eventually be very attractive in Africa because Africans are yearning to move away from the already centralized governance system which impedes economic growth and development.

How do you intend to measure the success of your project?

Measure of Success:

• The number of diverse groups from Africa
• The number of languages impacted
• The number that actually become DReps
• The number that gets incentivized is a motivation
• It is expected that about 200 get onboarded, and if realized it would be very impactful.

Cardano will experience growth because new members will join this exciting ecosystem

Please describe your plans to share the outputs and results of your project?

The plan is to start from November 2023 and end in February 2024 with 4 events.

November - there will be an online event with diverse members of the community from Africa.

December - In person event in Accra, Ghana , expecting over 100 participants who potentially would register as DReps.

January - In person and online combined event in Kumasi, Ghana to get the members in the Northern sector to have the opportunity of DRep education and participation

February - last event in Accra Ghana to wrap up education and DRep involvement and onboarding.

Results of completed projects will be sent to Catalyst.io, community and You Tube.

What is your capability to deliver your project with high levels of trust and accountability?

Emelia Sarfo - I have been a very active member of the Cardano Community since August 2021. I was a funded proposer in Fund 8 and Fund 9 which have been completed successfully and closed out. I was a CA in Fund 6, 7 and 8; a PA in Fund 9; vPA in Fund 7 and 9; Challenge Team member for Fund 8 and 9 Grow Africa Grow Cardano Challenge; currently a Challenge Team member for Fund10 Start Ups & Student Onboarding Challenge.

I managed my funded projects in Fund 8 and 9 very well - Ghana Youth Onboarding Outreach 1 & 2 and I am capable to delivering this project to the maximum satisfaction.

What are the main goals for the project and how will you validate if your approach is feasible?

Main Objectives and Goals:

• To get a group of DReps in Africa for maximum voting participation
• To represent Africa fully and effectively to choose the right impactful projects to promote Cardano in Africa.
• To get the members in Africa to fully enjoy the Cardano Ecosystem by being part of the decentralized governance system
• To motivate voters by DRep incentives will encourage more people to join and get onboarded on Cardano Ecosystem

Please provide a detailed breakdown of your project’s milestones and each of the main tasks or activities to reach the milestone plus the expected timeline for the delivery.

Milestones:

Milestone 1 - November 2023 DRep Event- will be organized online, expecting over 100 participants

Milestone 2 - December 2023 DRep Event - in-person event in Accra with expectation of over 100 participants in a hotel venue in Accra.

Milestone 3 - January 2024 DRep Event in Kumasi- expecting over 100 participants- hotel accommodation and event

Milestone 4 - February 2024 DRep final event in Accra Ghana - in a hotel venue- both in person and online.

Please describe the deliverables, outputs and intended outcomes of each milestone.

Milestone 1 - deliverables- online event , recorder, 2 hour event , expecting diverse people or members from Africa. Documentation by an Assistant and expect to get participants to fully understand the concept of DReps and participate fully.

Milestone 2 - In person event in Accra - deliverables- venue in a hotel expecting over 100 participants - Resource persons to educate and onboard. Participants expected to fully understand and become members to vote carefully and effectively when governance stage comes.

Milestone 3 - Event in Kumasi deliverables- accommodation for at least 10 participants from Northern parts of Ghana to the event. Equipment, media , etc., hire and full event lasting for about 5 hours.

Milestone 4 and last event in Accra- deliverables- Venue in a hotel for the event- equipment, etc . 4 to 5 hour event, interspersed with online participation.

Please provide a detailed budget breakdown of the proposed work and resources.

Total budget requested - 52000 ADA

All breakdown quotes are in ADA

Breakdown as follows:

Venue hires for 3 in person events (includes refreshments)- 12000

3 Resource persons 9000

Transport logistics(Accra and outside Accra) 5000

Accommodation outside Accra (8 ) 9500

Equipment and course materials 5000

Media & photography , Marketing 9000

Administrative expenses 2500

4 Months budget - for each month budget request as follows;

Milestone 1 - November 2023 - online event 2500

Milestone 2 - December 2023 - Accra, Ghana in person event 13300

Milestone 3 - January 2024- Kumasi (outside Accra) in person event 22900

Milestone 4 - February 2024- Accra in person event 13300

Who is in the project team and what are their roles?

Emelia Sarfo - Human Resource Consultant by profession; CA for Fund 6, 7 and 8; vCA for Fund 7; PA for Fund 9; vPA for Fund 9; Challenge Team member for Fund 8 and 9 Grow Africa Grow Cardano; Funded Proposer for Fund 8 and 9 Ghana Youth Onboarding Outreach 1 and 2. Active member of the Cardano Community. Current Challenge team member for Fund 10 Start Ups and Student Onboarding Challenge.

Nathaniel Dwamena- Funded Proposer for Fund 8; CEO of YAFO Institute, Active member of the Cardano Community.

Mustapha Mohammed Yakubu - Funded Proposer for Fund 9 Catalyst Campus Train; Cardano Ambassador; very active member of the Cardano Community

How does the cost of the project represent value for money for the Cardano ecosystem?

Yes, my project represents value for money. Considering the high cost of hotel venue in Accra and Kumasi, Ghana, the costs represented here are economical. All other costs have been bargained for to get the best prices.

At the end of these four events, it is expected that the Cardano hub members in the northern and southern parts of Ghana would be very conversant with DRep participation and thus become more committed to participate fully in Cardano governance. This is real value for money project.

I have already organized two past events in Fund 8 and 9 - Ghana Youth Onboarding Outreach 1 & 2 with over 400 participants in total. My two team members- Nathaniel and Mustapha have also organized big Cardano events for tertiary Institutions during Fund 8 and 9 and onboarded more than 500 students. These are funded proposers who have accomplished great projects in Catalyst.