Expanding the Cardano French West Africa Oureach to Côte d'Ivoire & Togo

[SOLUTION] Please describe your proposed solution.

This is the continuation on a funded project titled French West Africa Outreach that consisted of a series of workshops and conferences to reach the French speaking communities in West Africa. The first funded proposals focused on Senegal and Burkina Faso where two hubs were established with the aim to educate the communities about the blockchain technology and its opportunities for Africa. The impact was such that, aside the educational workshops we held through which we reached over 500 participants most of which joined the Catalyst communities (some of them summitted proposal in fund 9 under my guidance) and opened wallets on Yoroi, We also had 10 developers of our community initiated to Plutus and Haskell development in collaboration with the Wada hub in Goma.

Based on the impact the first proposal had, I and my team found it necessary to expand the French West Africa Outreach to Cote d’Ivoire and Togo where we have already established some connections suring the delivery of the previous proposal.

The French communities in Africa are full of potentials but they lack a platform to express their innovative ideas because the existing platforms for innovation are not only inadequate, but they are restricted only to a certain category of people in society and very centralized too. And we know that where the system is centralized, innovation can not be effective and most people never get to materialize their ideas for lack of opportunities.

This project is targeting people of all professional backgrounds but with a particular focus on developers or programmers who could eventually expand their IT skills into blockchain development, as well as students and entrepreneurs. I believe that great ideas will emerge from theworkshops I will hold because we can already see the impact of the first project. Our community members are getting more and more innovative and in no time our goal to contribute to the development of the French Africa will be accomplished as we believe that the Cardano blockchain is a place where people can come and have their minds challenged and reset to produce solutions to some major problems the African societies face.

[IMPACT] Please define the positive impact your project will have on the wider Cardano community.

I chose to submit this proposal because I need a room to ensure the continuity of the proposal funded in Fund 8 under Scale Up Cardano Hubs. Our community members in Burkina Faso and Senegal, after hearing about Cardano Blockchain were eager to join the Catalyst Community and take on roles and we believe the same results will be seen in Togo and Cote d’Ivoire.

Through this project:

The Cardano community in the French West Africa will enlarge thanks to our workshop sessions. I aim to reach 300 people in each of the countries and this this feasible thanks to the contacts I have already establised there.
people will have a clear understanding of blockchain and crypto currency and be willing to actively contribute to the Cardano ecosystem by taking up roles as we present the opportunity to them. Crypto currency as well as blockchain technology is still considered by many as a scam due to lack of education on the matter. I believe that with the right information spread, many will join the Cardano community and take on roles.
these communities will have access to great ideas as they navigate the projects on the Catalyst plaform, and this will help expand their innovative capacitiy and they will be able to participate actively to the ecosystem.
great ideas will emerge and eventually be turned into business opportunities and jobs offers, thus helping many to escape unemployment.

[CAPABILITY & FEASIBILITY] What is your capability to deliver your project with high levels of trust and accountability? How do you intend to validate if your approach is feasible?

Success will be measured by:

The number of people registered in the Catalyst platform(during each of our worshops, we always insist that participants register.)
The number of Yoroi wallet opened and Ada holders(Education on Ada is an important part of our workshop topics).
The number of people willing to take on a role and the role they intend to play in the Cardano community. We will then guide them according to their roles because sometimes, people don't know where to start from when the join the Catalyst community.

[Project Milestones] What are the key milestones you need to achieve in order to complete your project successfully?

I plan to hold 3 workshop sessions in each country(Cote d'Ivoire and Togo)

Month 0

Form a team: Burkina, Cote d'Ivoire and Togo;
hold two online meetings to plan the worshops with the team;
start social media advert for the first worshop in each country;
Get the venue for our worshop booked for;
Wrap up sessions with our resources persons to ensure everyone is on the same page.

Our workshop sessions will be organised as follows:

History and evolution of the Cardano Blockchain and how it differs from the other blockchains
The benefits of being an Ada holder
Project Catalyst: What it is, how it works, and how to join and take on a role in the community
Decentralised Finance and how it works
An overview of some outstanding projects people have been able to implement through the Project Catalyst.

All our worshops will be recorded and as we make sure the sound is good enough for others to watch and learn. Photos will be taken as well and shared on our various social platforms.

A minimum of 300 people will be educated and onboarded through our workshops. Those will be majoratorily be constituted of trained developers, the unemployed as well as entrepreneurs who will readily join the community and eventually become very active. This will lead to an increase of Ada holders and the expansion of Cardano in the French West Africa.

All my activities will be documented and a report sent to the Catalyst team on a monthly basis. Documents will include photos, links to our videos uploaded on Youtube.

>Month 1

1st week of November, 1st week of December 2023, and 1st week of January 2024:

first, second and third workshops for Cote d'Ivoire
we will expect at least 50 attendees per session each month.

>Month 2

2nd week of November, 2nd week of December 2023, and second week of January 2024:

the first, second and their workshops for Togo
we will also expect at least 50 attendees in Togo per session each month.

>Month 3

3rd week of January:

A separate session will be held for those who will potentially take over the hubs that we will establish. These volunteers will follow on the community members to ensure all their questions are answered.

>A minimum of 300 people will be educated and onboarded through our workshops. Those will be majoratorily be constituted of trained developers, the unemployed as well as entrepreneurs who will readily join the community and eventually become very active. This will lead to an increase of Ada holders and the expansion of Cardano in the French West Africa.

All my activities will be documented and a report sent to the Catalyst team on a monthly basis. Documents will include photos, links to our videos uploaded on Youtube.

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

Dr. Malick Kone: Advisor/ Blockchain expert/Trainer

Dr. Malick Kone has been an active member of the Catalyst community since fund 6, a Found 9 CA and Voter. He is a mathematics professor and a Plutus and Haskell trainer. He participated in the Wada project titled Nurturing Roots in Africa by organizing workshops in Cote d’Ivoire, to educate people on the Cardano Blockchain and its opportunities for Africa. And during those workshops an overall number of 150 people joined the Catalyst Platform and opened wallets on Yoroi.

He is a beneficiary of the Plutus Pioneer Program and also has an advanced skill level with Haskell. I am currently planning a 5-week training on Plutus and Haskell with Dr. Malick for the benefit of developers in Cote d’Ivoire and Burkina Faso.

He has also held a couple of workshops in Cote d’Ivoire to teach developers how to create and execute smart contracts.

Dr. Malick is from Cote d’Ivoire(West Africa). He is bilingual with a good mastery of French and English and he understands the realities the French communities in Africa face when it comes to innovation.

Here is a link to one of his online presentations on Cardano to the French communities in Africa:

[BUDGET & COSTS] Please provide a cost breakdown of the proposed work and resources.

Venue hire for 6 Workshops: 9600

Equipment rental (projector, speakers): 6000

Main speaker: 6000

Resource persons in both countries: 12000

Remuneration for the supporting team: 6000

Media(Video, flyers, banners, photos): 4000

Refreshment for 300 participants: 5000

wallet opening for 300 participants: 2 ADA each: 600

Travelling costs: 10 000

Total Cost: 59200

[VALUE FOR MONEY] How does the cost of the project represent value for money for the Cardano ecosystem?

Venue for 6 Workshops: 9600

This will cover the rental for 6 workshops(Cote d'Ivoire and Togo)

Equipment rental(projector, speakers): 6000

This will also cover all 6 workshops

Main speaker: 6000: As the main speaker, I will be present in person at all six events.
Resource person in Cote d'Ivoire: 6000(2000 per workshop)
resource in Togo: 6000(2000 per workshop)
Remuneration for the supporting team: 6000

This person will assist with organising the workshop, putting down reports and other administrative work.

Media(Video, flyers, banners, photos) 4000

This will be the responsibility of the community manager. This budget includes printing of banners, editing videos, as well as publicity on social media. The community manager will also receive an allowance from this amount.

Refreshment for 300 participants: 5000

Refreshment will cost 16.5 Ada per participant

wallet opening for 300 participants: 2 ADA each: 600

Wallet opening for 300 paticipants: 600

Each participant will get a wallet with 2 Ada.

Travelling cost: 12 000

This cost will cover 3 return trips (burkina-cote d'ivoire-togo) as well as accommodation. These are neighbouring countries were I can travel to with ease.