Africa has become one of the most active regions for blockchain experimentation, with developers building around payments, stablecoins, digital identity, DeFi and other real-world applications.
However, building a blockchain ecosystem requires more than launching a network. It requires developers who understand the technology, founders who can turn ideas into products, communities that can support those builders and local programmes that connect them to funding, mentorship and users.
This is where Celo Africa DAO comes in. Celo Africa DAO is a community-led organisation focused on growing the adoption of Celo and blockchain technology across Africa. It works with developers, founders, students and Web3 communities through incubator programmes, code jams, hackathons, university outreach and ecosystem events.
Since its launch in April 2023, the DAO has developed into one of the regional communities supporting Celo’s growth across markets including Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Uganda and South Africa. Its work has increasingly moved beyond simply introducing people to blockchain technology.
The focus is now on helping African builders create products that use Celo’s infrastructure in areas such as payments, stablecoins, merchant applications and other real-world financial use cases.
How Celo Africa DAO started
Celo Africa DAO was launched in April 2023 as part of Celo’s regional DAO structure. The model was designed to give local communities more responsibility for growing the blockchain ecosystem in their own regions.
Rather than having all ecosystem activity managed from one central organisation, regional DAOs could organise local events, work directly with developers and create programmes suited to their markets.
Celo’s documentation describes regional DAOs as community-driven organisations that operate autonomously while focusing on local development and helping communities use and build on Celo. Celo Africa DAO has local chapters in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and Uganda.
From the beginning, the African DAO focused on three broad areas: attracting Web3 talent, educating communities and developers, and building awareness around the Celo ecosystem.
That meant taking blockchain education beyond online conversations and bringing it into universities, developer communities, hackathons and physical events.
Building a developer community
Developers are at the centre of Celo Africa DAO’s work.
The DAO has organised developer workshops, code jams, hackathons and technical sessions designed to help people move from learning about blockchain to actually building on it.
Its early 2023 report showed the approach clearly. The DAO activated university clubs, hosted developer events and ran workshops aimed at helping participants understand Celo’s technology and build practical applications. It also reported more than 800 wallet downloads across the ecosystem during that period.
The idea behind these programmes is straightforward.
A developer who attends a workshop should not simply leave with information about Celo. They should have an opportunity to continue building, meet other developers and eventually become part of the wider ecosystem.
That has become an increasingly important part of the DAO’s work.
Code jams turn learning into building
One of the DAO’s recurring initiatives is its Codejam programme.
Code jams are practical developer sessions where participants work through technical concepts and build applications around Celo.
The DAO’s current programme describes its developer roadmap as a progression from onboarding and social engagement to mentorship, resources, coding, collaboration and eventually scaling projects.
This approach creates a pipeline.
Someone can discover Celo through a community event, learn through a workshop, start experimenting during a code jam and later participate in an incubator or hackathon.
That progression is important for an ecosystem trying to develop local technical talent rather than relying entirely on developers entering from outside.
University outreach brings Web3 closer to students
Celo Africa DAO has also invested heavily in university communities.
Its early programmes activated university clubs and organised events that introduced students to blockchain development and the broader Web3 ecosystem.
University outreach gives the ecosystem access to people who may still be at the beginning of their technical careers.
For students, these programmes can provide exposure to blockchain development, peer communities, mentors and opportunities to work on real projects.
For the ecosystem, it creates a longer-term pipeline of developers who can continue contributing after leaving university.
This has remained part of Celo Africa DAO’s wider community strategy alongside developer events and incubation.
From education to incubation
As the DAO developed, its work expanded from education and community building into startup incubation. The incubator allows early-stage founders to work on products built around Celo, receive mentorship and prepare their projects for the next stage of growth.
The DAO’s 2024 retrospective reported that it attracted more than 10 early-stage teams, helped more than seven projects ship MVPs and advanced more than four projects into Celo Camp. It also reported that three projects secured more than $30,000 in grants through Prezenti.
That represents a different role for the DAO. It is not only helping people learn about blockchain.
It is helping founders turn blockchain ideas into products. The incubator also creates a connection between developers and the wider Celo ecosystem, including investors, accelerators and ecosystem partners.
Supporting real-world financial applications
The types of projects supported through Celo Africa DAO have increasingly reflected Celo’s focus on real-world blockchain applications.
Payments, stablecoins, lending and merchant applications have become important areas for African builders in the ecosystem.
In its 2025 Season 1 report, the DAO said its incubator supported 11 early-stage startups with active MVPs, particularly around payments, lending and merchant acceptance. It also reported more than $25,000 in on-chain transactions generated during the programme.
This focus is significant because it moves blockchain development away from applications that exist primarily for experimentation.
African developers are building products around things people already do: sending money, accepting payments, accessing digital dollars and interacting with financial services.
Stablecoins are becoming a major focus
Stablecoins have become one of the most important themes within Celo Africa DAO’s recent work. The DAO’s 2025 programmes specifically prioritised stablecoins and related payment infrastructure as high-transaction areas.
Its developer activities included workshops around stablecoin rails, while its hackathons produced projects focused on stablecoin payments, mini-apps and other consumer applications. This fits naturally with Celo’s broader positioning around accessible blockchain-based financial applications.
For African builders, stablecoins provide a way to experiment with digital representations of currencies while using blockchain networks for transfers and payments. The DAO is helping developers turn that infrastructure into products designed around local markets.
cKash shows what incubation can produce
One of the clearest examples of this approach is cKash.
Celo Africa DAO developed cKash in partnership with Divvi as a non-custodial wallet focused on stablecoins and real-world utility across Africa.
The project was designed around a mobile-money-like experience, initially supporting currencies including cUSD and cKES, alongside other stablecoins on Celo.
By the end of the DAO’s 2025 Season 1 reporting period, cKash had recorded more than 1,500 installs and 300 monthly active users, according to the DAO. It had also processed more than 1,000 transactions and $13,000 in volume, including on-chain activity and off-ramp transactions.
The project demonstrates the type of product Celo Africa DAO wants its programmes to produce.
Instead of stopping at a hackathon prototype, a project can move into incubation, launch a product and begin recording actual user activity.
Hackathons create a pipeline of new ideas
In 2025, Celo Africa DAO supported the Celo track at ETHNile in Uganda. The DAO reported that more than 235 developers participated, with more than 100 onboarded to Celo and more than 30 projects built around payments and consumer applications.
The DAO also supported a MiniPay hackathon focused on mini-apps, prediction markets and games.
That programme attracted 250 developers and generated 60 submissions, according to the DAO’s report. These events serve another purpose beyond competition.
They create an environment where developers who may not have previously worked together can meet, experiment and build. Some of those projects can then enter the DAO’s incubation pipeline.
MiniPay has become part of the ecosystem
MiniPay is another important part of Celo Africa DAO’s work. The mobile-first wallet, developed by Opera, has become a significant distribution channel for Celo-based applications, particularly across emerging markets.
Celo Africa DAO has supported MiniPay workshops and hackathons designed to help developers build applications that can reach MiniPay users.
Its 2025 programmes included dedicated MiniApp activities, while the DAO’s earlier work included a MiniPay workshop in Nigeria that helped establish an ambassador programme and collaboration around the wallet’s African launch.
This creates another layer in the ecosystem.
Developers are not simply building on a blockchain.
They can build applications intended for distribution through a wallet already designed for mobile users.
Growing Celo across African markets
Celo Africa DAO’s work spans several countries rather than concentrating on one market.
Its local chapters include Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and Uganda, while its programmes have also brought together developers and founders from other parts of the continent.
The regional approach allows the DAO to respond to the different communities and developer ecosystems in each country.
A code jam in Nigeria can focus on a different group of developers from a university programme in Kenya, while a hackathon in Uganda can attract builders interested in another set of applications.
All of them can still feed into the same Celo ecosystem.
Events have been a major part of the strategy
Celo Africa DAO has hosted or sponsored more than 20 events, organised more than five hackathons and held more than 10 university meetups.
Earlier reports also show its involvement in major African Web3 gatherings including EthAccra, EthSafari, the Decentralised Intelligence Summit and other developer-focused events.
These events help create the physical layer of an ecosystem that can otherwise feel entirely online.
Developers meet founders.
Founders meet investors.
Students meet experienced builders.
And projects gain visibility among people who may eventually become users, partners or contributors.
Creating opportunities beyond the classroom
Education is most useful when it leads somewhere.
Celo Africa DAO has increasingly structured its programmes around that idea.
Its current developer roadmap includes onboarding, mentorship, resources, code jams, collaboration and opportunities for developers to scale their projects.
Its incubator then gives selected founders another route to continue developing their products.
The DAO’s 2025 report also described a developer pipeline called Proof of Ship, designed to identify and track projects that are actually building.
During that period, the DAO said it onboarded more than 900 developers, reached 550 projects and moved 110 projects into the Proof of Ship pipeline.
Building a local Celo ecosystem
The significance of Celo Africa DAO goes beyond the number of events or hackathons it organises. Its larger contribution is the community and infrastructure it is building around African developers.
A blockchain ecosystem needs developers who can understand the technology, founders who can turn that technology into products and communities that can help those projects grow.
Celo Africa DAO brings these groups together.
Its incubator connects founders with mentors and ecosystem partners.
Its code jams connect developers with practical learning.
Its university programmes introduce students to blockchain development.
Its hackathons create opportunities to build.
And its community events create the relationships that connect all of these activities.
What comes next for Celo Africa DAO
In its 2025 Season 1 report, Celo Africa DAO said its 2026 focus would include strengthening the Proof of Ship pipeline, turning high-signal projects into long-term founders and expanding real-world stablecoin utility.
That builds on the progression already visible in its programmes.
The first stage was bringing developers into the ecosystem.
The next was helping them build.
Then came incubation and the launch of products such as cKash.
The next stage is helping more of those products achieve sustained usage and become part of the wider African digital economy.
For Celo Africa DAO, that means continuing to develop the people and products around the Celo network.
For the African blockchain ecosystem, it creates another pathway for local developers and founders to move from learning about Web3 to actually building products that people can use.
And that may ultimately be the most important role of Celo Africa DAO: not simply bringing Celo to Africa, but helping African builders shape what gets built on it.