Please describe your proposed solution.

According to UN forecasts, Africa is expected to double its population by 2050, from 1 billion to nearly 2.4 billion inhabitants. Half of that population will be less than 25 years old.

World Bank figures show that young people represent 60% of the unemployed population in Africa. Among those who do have a job, the majority work in the informal economy. A report published in 2018, by the International Labour Organization (ILO) on the topic, indicated that 94.9% of people between the ages of 15 and 24 in Africa work in the informal economy. In West Africa this figure is as high as 97.9%.

DRC has the 7th youngest country in the world according to the UN. This presents a unique mix of challenges and opportunities.

With blockchain being the number 1 in demand hard skill of 2020, our proposal seeks to catalyse, cultivate and encourage the burgeoning interest amongst the architects and entrepreneurs of the future in blockchain and related technologies in the digital economy.

<u>Sustainable Development Goals:</u>

• <https://countries.africasdgindex.org/#/congo-dem-rep>
• <https://countries.africasdgindex.org/#/cote-divoire>

Due to the costs of internet in many areas of Africa, content creation is limited.

SPOs need to learn how to create Youtube videos, and manage channels and promote their operations on social media + more.

<u>Pioneering SPOs located:</u>

1. national calculus center (CNCCI) (Ivory Coast)
2. ISDR/GL (Goma, DRC)

• ISDR/GL was a host to the Cardano 2021 Summit (25-26 September 2021)
• Provide local staking information to local investors in Cardano

Work has already gone underway to recruit a coordinator at each hub.

This Fund 9 proposal seeks to cover the costs of capacity building so that the personnel are sufficiently equipped with the fundamental skills to successfully run and manage the pool, and teach others so that each SPO can function as a sustainable business and Cardano blockchain educational hub.

Though having technical skills, the operators require training about Blockchain business marketing and delegators' goals.

Please describe how your proposed solution will address the Challenge that you have submitted it in.

• Exposure to Cardano blockchain for thousands of students who can use decentralized financial institutions
• Training local pioneers and entrepreneurs
• Learning opportunities for future developers
• Popular meetups for youth and blockchain/crypto entrepreneurs hosted at educational institutions
• Establish the first of its kind Education Institution, student and youth participatory stake pool with capacity building of staff for long term sustainability

What are the main risks that could prevent you from delivering the project successfully and please explain how you will mitigate each risk?

• Internet Interruptions to the producing nodes: 3 Internet Providers will be connecting the producing node to the internet
• Power Outage: Solar panels can help stabilize the power
• Lower Pledge: Institutions will pledge 25K of Ada each for the stake pool should they be supported
• Sustainability of the stake pool: Student unions will produce promotional videos for the stakepool on YouTube and grow the Cardano Community

Please provide a detailed plan, including timeline and key milestones for delivering your proposal.

<u>Roadmap:</u>

If funded each SPO and their journey will receive support from the African Stakepool Alliance (ASPA) that has formed as a result of an affiliated funded proposal from Fund 6:

Strengthening Stake Pools : <https://cardano.ideascale.com/a/dtd/Strengthening-Stake-Pools-in-Africa/366840-48088>

Sept - Oct: Week 0-6, Begin capacity building and training of each SPO personnel using resources of the Wada network and partners

November: SPO running with newly trained local Stake Pool Operator

<u>Long term vision:</u>

6 months: Running sustainably by locals and receiving support from local support network and ASPA

12 months: Fully functioning SPO with rewards distributed to local delegators, and supporting educational initiatives in each learning institution, and is a model of blockchain innovation and education. Will aim to share the success story and experiences in a report for ecosystem and global benefit.

<u>Managing workload:</u>

As we have a globally decentralized, experienced, multi-skilled and diverse team, working across timezones, and connected to various networks and communities, we can tap into our multiple connections and resources, to ensure we have a sustainable approach to managing our workload if we are to receive funding from Catalyst.

Here is a link explaining how members of our team, who are actively working on previously funded proposals and supporting this proposal, shall manage their workload:

Raz: <https://docs.google.com/document/d/1SdUYlUODbPxgipIHgZ5uQDO3MoksnIqdONU1MGm5Uvw/edit?usp=sharing>

Please provide a detailed budget breakdown.

<u>Budget:</u>

Training costs x 2 Stake Pool Operators (6 weeks) - $500 x 2 = $1000

Stipend x 2 Stake Pool Operators (12 months) 2500 x 2 = 5000

Project Management/admin: $2,000 (Sept - Jan)

Total costs: $8,000

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Please provide details of the people who will work on the project.

Razali (Raz)

• 14 years of experience as an international, interdisciplinary Educator from early years settings to postgraduate level, with a background in social sciences, humanities, and sustainability.
• Freelance Writer, Editor, Digital Economy, Blockchain, Sustainability and Impact Measurements Researcher (#Blockchain4Good, #Cardano4Good, #NFT4Good), Social Entrepreneur, Catalyst Proposal Mentor.
• Active Cardano community member working to drive the ecosystem to positive impact purposes. Co-Founder of Cardojo, Co-Founder of A Samsudin Brothers Projek, Co-Founder of Sustainable ADA, The Art Suite Social and Environmental Impact Projects Director, Wada UN SDG and Education Coordinator, Contributor at Cardano AIM behind community tools such as the SDG Proposer Tool, SDG Search Tool and Voter Tool, PositiveBlockchain, Cardano4Climate, Catalyst School and Adatruth.
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/razali-samsudin
• https://twitter.com/Razlosophy

Wada Business Initiatives & Democratic Republic of the Congo Hubs Oversight Lead - Frederic Samvura (Genty)

<https://www.linkedin.com/in/fr%C3%A9d%C3%A9ric-samvura-907aa53b/>

Wada Ivory Coast - Malik Koné. <https://www.linkedin.com/mwlite/in/malikkone>

and Wada team

<https://wadalliance.org/about-us/>

If you are funded, will you return to Catalyst in a later round for further funding? Please explain why / why not.

If this proposal is funded, we aim for our project to enable us to progressively work towards demonstrating and establishing a sustainable framework and model whereby value is created by the SPO and its delegators, with rewards shared amongst supporters and the mission driven causes we support. Nonetheless, we cannot be 100% certain as to whether or not we will return to Catalyst in a later round as we seek to scale further afield in the long term, and therefore may require further Catalyst support to enable the team to do so.

Please describe what you will measure to track your project's progress, and how will you measure these?

• #no of partnerships created between stakeholders external to the Cardano ecosystem and the DRC and Ivory Coast SPOs thanks to the support of the Africa Stakepool Alliance and the marketing efforts of the SPOs
• # of new delegators staking with each SPO
• Total amount in ADA (and in $USD) being staked with each SPO

What does success for this project look like?

• With the support of Catalyst funding and the Cardano community, this proposal would have enabled our team to have the resources and capacity to direct focused efforts that facilitate a significant inflow and redirection of ADA, and capital from stakeholders within the Cardano community and also those external to the Cardano ecosystem before the marketing efforts of the newly trained SPOs and the support from the African Stakepool Alliance

• ADA is now flowing towards and being staked with single pool operators in Africa such as SPOs in DRC and Ivory Coast, and parts of the world that were originally marketed as the key beneficiaries of Cardano’s ambitious, innovative and disruptive solutions, including to bank the unbanked and underbanked.

• The grand vision of Charles Hoskinson is a daily reality for millions more people across Africa and the diaspora.

• Change makers are able to drive positive action with the support of a decentralized network of impact oriented actors and SPOs, all aligned by common values and connected by their passion and drive to build a better, equitable and sustainable world for all.

Please provide information on whether this proposal is a continuation of a previously funded project in Catalyst or an entirely new one.

This is a new proposal.

It is an affiliated proposal with our funded proposal from Fund 6:

<https://cardano.ideascale.com/a/dtd/African-Learning-Institutions-SPOs/369320-48088>