[IMPACT] Please describe your proposed solution.
This proposal seeks to build a crypto use map DAO which would be a tool that can organize and locate functioning existing and new businesses that have integrated crypto use.
Background
Often times it becomes difficult getting the necessities of life or go about your basic life activities without spending fiat money. This creates the need to exchange crypto for fiat to spend. Many individuals use crypto exchanges to convert their crypto tokens into fiat money for real-world spending. These spendings extend from buying basic necessaries, paying compensation of workers, and purchasing components to deliver a project.
Most real-world businesses do not accept crypto. Individuals who work on projects involving traveling from one location to another, find it difficult to function in the new location. Also, there is difficulty in building trust and mutual cooperation in new locations for an off-grid peer-to-peer transaction that does not involve a smart contract.
Solution in Details
Our team through this proposal is seeking to organize and map out locations of businesses that have integrated crypto use and accept crypto as payment for delivering business service and value. This would be achieved with an Open-Source App that we believe would help and fasten delivering of services and value.
This would include wholesale, industry supply chain, and retail businesses. For instance, imagine yourself using a Map tool to locate a salon that accepts ADA and the convenience it would present to you when paying for your haircut in ADA, and imagine doing the same in a totally new place should you have to travel. Also, as a business owners can easily locate suppliers within and along their value chain who accept crypto and deal with them as well.
The Crypto Map Use DAO would be an open tool that would organize, verify and place businesses that have accepted crypto use to deliver service on its map.
Organize: The tool is open and decentralized and gives power to a network of mappers to use GIS software to map and take coordinates of business locations that accept crypto use. This would be a large marketplace of locations for crypto use.
Education: The proposal would also focus on educating existing businesses and new ones to integrate crypto use which would open an array of markets to serve more people.
Location: The network of mappers would use GIS to map the location of businesses that have integrated crypto use on the Cardano blockchain. This would allow individuals to easily locate the businesses that are offering diverse and suitable services for the needs of different people.
Rating: As more people connect and interact with various business locations, feedback would be reported on each location by several individuals who interact with businesses regarding crypto use.
Contributions and Reward: The DAO tool would allow individuals to contribute and distribute rewards to a network of mappers for adding value and updating the locations of businesses.
§ Starting Point
The proposed map use would be developed for use across the globe however, for the purpose of this proposal the focus is on businesses (informal and formal) in Africa, and hopefully, the project would start in Ghana. This is because it is difficult for money to cross the border within the African continent. This makes it difficult for people living on the continent to deliver value and services across borders. There are too many regulations that are stifling business operations and deepening the poverty of the African people. We believe that the Crypto Map Use DAO would create an aggregate of creators who can function with no limitation since blockchain offers solutions yet Africa is slow in adopting it.
· Partnership
Ubuntu Origin Africa has secured a partnership with GEO_ANDER CONSULT, a Geospatial service in Ghana that has specialize in GIS, Surveying, Drone/Aerial Mapping and has a team of mappers in Ghana. Our projection is to have more networks of mappers adding value to the Crypto Use Map DAO
WHY THE FOCUS ON INFORMAL BUSINESSES IN GHANA?
The significance of the informal sector in Ghana and Africa is open book. The informal sector is dominant and is the engine for growth in Ghana and Africa. It is worth noting that the major challenge faced by businesses in the informal sector is the lack of identity and financial inclusion. This proposal would through mapping DAO provide a platform for facilitating informal businesses by mapping diverse locations and categorizing businesses for easy identifications and smooth service delivery without any difficulty.
[IMPACT] Please describe how your proposed solution will address the Challenge that you have submitted it in.
Our proposal fits the campaign by providing a tool that can help map the locations of businesses in the informal sector in Africa and the world at large. This would provide a platform that would leverage the Cardano blockchain to integrate business communities and build a global network of mappers. This would directly impact the livelihoods and informal businesses and increase the use of the DAO tool by several other ecosystems.
Also, ADA would be used to distribute rewards to a network of mappers. Business owners would equally integrate voluntarily ADA as part of the crypto adopted for their business and the team provide education and facilitate crypto use within the informal business space.
The map DAO would be open for other communities to use and develop crypto Use Map at various localities even though the team behind the proposal would focus on informal businesses in Ghana and Africa.
Kindly Note: The focus on the informal sector does not exclude formal businesses that use crypto.
[IMPACT] What are the main risks that could prevent you from delivering the project successfully and please explain how you will mitigate each risk?
Since our focus is on Ghana, the immediate challenge foreseen by the team is the fear of crypto use by businesses in the informal sector. However, with education and demonstrable evidence of the benefit of crypto use for business, adoption would be easy since informal sectors are full of small businesses that have easy decision-making processes, unlike corporate and big firms.
[FEASIBILITY] Please provide a detailed plan, including timeline and key milestones for delivering your proposal.
The team estimate to deliver the proposal in three (3) months. The details of the activities are outlined as follows;
Phase A: 1 – 3 Weeks
§ Kick-off Meeting
§ User Research
§ Network of Cartographers Onboard Strategic Research
§ Strategic Partnership Outreach & Research
Phase B: 4 – 9 Weeks
§ Completely Develop Open-Source Crypto Use App
§ Launch & Test-net
§ Monitoring & Evaluating Report
Phase C: 10 – 11 Weeks
§ Marketing (Digital & Traditional mediums)
§ Informal Business Engagement
§ Host workshop to educate informal sector businesses owners/players
Phase D: 11 – 12 Week
§ Finalizing Project Completion & Report
Milestone
The project outlines the following as successful milestones when achieved
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Completion of App
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Educate 200 informal businesses on Crypto Use
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Map 100 business locations
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At least a network of 30 mappers
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100 newly created Yoroi wallet
[FEASIBILITY] Please provide a detailed budget breakdown.
Budget ($)
Research & Development – 10,000
App Development – 25,000
License & Subscription – 5,000
Marketing – 7,000
Product Management – 5,000
Advertising – 4,000
Informal Business Education & Workshop – 5,500
Team fees – 3,000
Total – 64,500
[FEASIBILITY] Please provide details of the people who will work on the project.
Kingsley Mensah - CTO
He holds an MSc. in Computer Science & Technology. Founder of a web-hosting company, Kingscel Technologies. He has proven skills in web designing, software development, computer networking and security, Javascript, Plutus, and CSS, and loves ideas for a free society. He was awarded the Star of Innovation Award in 2019 by the Hubei University of Technology (China). He also received the Young Achievers Award at the Pride of Africa Awards (Asia) 2020 by Appreciate Africa Network (Asia).
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kingsley-mensah/
Gabriel Alexander Kpevu - Mapping Coordinator
He has a B. A(Hons.) in Geography and Rural Development, MPHIL Geographic Information Systems (GIS). He is a Geospatial expert, researcher, and project manager with several years of professional and field experience.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabriel-alexander-kpevu-1591468b/
Kwadwo Kyeremeh Tuffour - Systems Developer
I am a mechanical engineer by profession and a passionate developer. I started my software development career as a hobby to build applications on top of mechanical systems, but it metamorphosed into something bigger. Currently, my area of expertise includes Plutus, C#,Rust, php-laravel, and vue-JavaScript.
Nathaniel Dwamena - Chief Operation Officer
He has a B. A (Hons) in Geography and Rural Development. He is a researcher and has more than seven years of experience in think tank development, non-profit management, and business development consulting. He was part of the team contracted by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ Ghana) to conduct a study on red tape for doing business in Ghana. He successfully completed think tank training in Nigeria and project management training in Kenya, which aided in his successful graduation from the Atlas Leadership Academy, Atlas Network (USA). He is a member of Wada and has been involved in Catalyst since Fund 7.
LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathaniel-dwamena-02578a127/
Barbara Ofosu - Administrator
She holds a BSc. in Psychology at the University of Cape Coast. She is a researcher with four years of experience in think tank development and non-profit management. She was part of the team from Young Africans for Opportunities that conducted a study on the Experience of Driver on Vehicle Insurance in Ghana (Driver Mo Project). She is currently enrolled at the Atlas Network Academy (USA).
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/barbara-ofosu-b89354148/
Angela Okai Nartey - Marketing Officer
She is a Digital Marketer. She holds a Digital Marketing Certificate from Google Digital Workshop and a bachelor's degree in Information Technology from Ghana Communication Technology University. Angela is a blockchain enthusiast, She has been a community Advisor since Fund 7. A challenge team member for Scale-UP Cardano Community Hubs in Fund 8.
LinkedIn: <https://www.linkedin.com/in/angela-nartey-8b8aa81b2>
Atta Boamah Caleb - Project Designer
He is a graphic designer and a marker who has more than three years of experience in online marketing and publicity as well as non-profit management. He is a member of Fund 8 and a community advisor.
LinkedIn: <https://www.linkedin.com/in/atta-boamah-caleb-589330209>
[FEASIBILITY] If you are funded, will you return to Catalyst in a later round for further funding? Please explain why / why not.
In the short term, No. This is because this proposal is independent and completely new and when funded the focus would be to execute the proposal within the specified timeline stated in the proposal and deliver value to the businesses in the informal sector. Also, the team has made research input into the budget and we believe that amount asked would be adequate for executing the proposal.
[AUDITABILITY] Please describe what you will measure to track your project's progress, and how will you measure these?
Auditability
The project team behind the project welcomes openness to catalyst community members and businesses in the informal sector and has integrated progress reports that would be published monthly on the website. Also, DApp development would be documented in Github. The project team is committed to providing funding updates, impact, and progress reports on Discord.
The Following Indicators Will Track Progress (KPIs)
· Number of Businesses locations Mapped
· Number of Communities using Apps
· Number of Downloads
· Number of Contributors
· Number of Business Categories
[AUDITABILITY] What does success for this project look like?
Success to us is the experience and how this map would impact businesses and individuals by having a go-to app that can direct them to locations for their needs and pay in crypto.
[AUDITABILITY] Please provide information on whether this proposal is a continuation of a previously funded project in Catalyst or an entirely new one.
The proposal is new and independent. It is not a follow-up on a previously funded proposal. Also, the team has about 5 members who are not engaged in a previously funded proposal in Catalyst.
Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Rating
The proposal in a broader sense seeks to develop the private informal sector (a sector that directly engages many livelihoods in Africa) in Ghana and Africa at large. This when executed through the Ubuntu Origins Africa organization would go a long way to achieving sustainable development goals such as;
- SDG Goal 1 - No Poverty
- SGD Goal 2 - No Hunger
- SDG Goal 8 - Decent Work & Economic Growth
- SDG Goal 9 - Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure
