• African universities are recognizing the importance of blockchain education and are integrating standalone blockchain courses into their curricula.

• Universities such as Namibia University and the University of Johannesburg have already introduced blockchain courses.

• Blockchain education in universities has the potential to nurture a new generation of blockchain engineers, fostering innovation and growth in Africa’s tech sector.

Cryptocurrency adoption in Africa is rising, and every developer and crypto enthusiast has eyes on the speeding train. Organizations such as Binance, Ethereum and Polygon have made some progress, each taking the necessary initiatives to establish a link with Africa’s lucrative blockchain market.

These strides have significantly impacted the livelihood of various crypto miners and traders within Africa’s crypto ecosystem. As much as these efforts have aided Africa, it is still not enough. There have been petitions to incorporate blockchain courses within African universities to increase crypto awareness among the future workforce.

Importance of Blockchain courses

Even with the rise of blockchain-based boot camps, the growth of crypto awareness in Africa has been quite slow. More and more individuals have taken advantage of these opportunities. However, a large margin of potential talent and innovation remains untapped to skyrocket the industry.

This was foresight to the current development of Africa’s ecosystem. There have been multiple startups, such as Chipper Cash, BitSika and plenty more, that have worked tirelessly to implement their self-taught blockchain expertise.

Also, read about African startups ushering in the new age of Web 3.0.

The success rate of African universities in computer-related courses has increased over the years. More universities are catering to educating their citizens. If we can apply the application of blockchain courses within African universities, we could not only increase crypto awareness but also expand Web3. We could exponentially grow the crypto ecosystems by giving the necessary skills to build decentralized applications at our education level.

Organizations offering blockchain courses

Due to the low adoption rate of African universities offering blockchain courses, organizations have taken it upon themselves to provide the necessary resources to facilitate such education. 

• Africa Blockchain Centre, commonly known as ABC, is an organization that aims to promote and build a blockchain ecosystem in Africa that breeds highly skilled blockchain engineers. These individuals will have the facilities and knowledge to support the expansion of Africa as a crypto ecosystem and Tech Hub. ABC offers various online blockchain courses that aid individuals in their journey. They mould them into adequate blockchain developers who will usher in Africa’s new age of technology. Alongside facilitating such education, ABC also links their students with other experts and firms. This enables them to broaden their skills and increase their potential.
• The Blockchain Association of Kenya, led by Mic Kimani, first launched this association in 2017 to oversee blockchain industry standards among companies, startups, traders, and developers. He decided to increase their reach and partnered with other institutions to offer trading, education boot camps, and meetups. This initiative was a response to improve their staff further and promote crypto awareness within Kenya.
• The Bithub Africa Blockchain Accelerator –  John Karanja, a tech entrepreneur, discovered this organization in hopes of accelerating the blockchain ecosystem and cryptocurrency within Africa. Bithumb Africa also acts as a conduit between developer and development startups in the crypto ecosystem within Africa. To make up where most African universities have failed, Bithub Africa offers various Blockchain courses and certifications. These programs aid in training a developer to acquire the necessary skills.
• Africa Code Academy is an institution whose main aim is to develop young minds to acquire the necessary skills in real-world scenarios. They construct class time just like a software company and are referred to as developers, while teaching assistants are called project managers. Their key goal is to slowly integrate real-life situations and responses within their students. This has resulted in a significant success rate with ACA’s training regime. They offer blockchain courses on different levels, and each group requires the development of usable projects. Top students not only gradually expand Africa’s crypto ecosystem but also acquire opportunities to work as assistants or instructors.
• The Africa Blockchain Institute (ABI) serves as a continent-wide hub for blockchain-related research, education, and implementation strategies aimed at driving digital innovation across Africa.
• The Power Learn Project (PLP) is a social enterprise with the ambitious goal of empowering one million software developers in Africa by 2027. Through collaborations with entities like EMURGO Africa, the commercial arm of Cardano Blockchain, PLP integrates cutting-edge blockchain technology into its learning ecosystem, offering learners practical experience in blockchain solution development.
• Blockchain online resources play a pivotal role in fostering knowledge and understanding of blockchain technology and its diverse applications. Platforms like Cryptozombies offer interactive education on blockchain development, while others like UseWeb3 cater to both novice and intermediate developers seeking to explore Web3. Additionally, institutions such as Consensys and Binance Academy provide comprehensive courses covering various aspects of blockchain and cryptocurrency, including development and deployment strategies.
• Pluralsight’s Blockchain Fundamentals course stands out as a premier resource for developers proficient in C# looking to deepen their understanding and skills in blockchain technology. Through hands-on learning, developers can acquire the knowledge and expertise necessary to innovate and build robust blockchain solutions.

African universities offer blockchain courses

With the consistent rise of blockchain adoption within Africa, a few African universities have already established blockchain courses within their curricula or are in the planning phase.

• Namibia University: The Namibian higher learning institution plans to incorporate a stand-alone blockchain course by 2024. Samuel Nuungulu, the University’s head of IT, released this information and expressed great zeal for the new master’s degree program. He stated that blockchain is the future of Web3, and there is a need to instil necessary skills in the next generation.
• University of Johannesburg: The South African learning institute induced a blockchain certification within its curriculum a few years back. This initiative placed it as one of the first African Universities to offer a blockchain education system. Graduates receive a certification upon completion of the course. This proves they have the necessary skills to develop blockchain-based projects and aid crypto awareness in Africa.
• The University of Cape Town, located in South Africa, provides a range of courses tailored to the field of financial technology (FinTech). These include offerings such as “Start Up Your FinTech Future,” “Financial Regulation & FinTech Companies,” “Entrepreneurs in Emerging Markets & Blockchain Technology,” “Building FinTech Startups in Emerging Markets,” a specialized course focusing on FinTech startups in emerging markets, and a certification program centred around disruption in finance.

Also, Read Chipper Cash: An African fintech grayling to boost cryptocurrency adoption in Africa.

African universities offering blockchain courses are very few, but we expect others to adopt the same. Major companies such as Binance have established Academies within Africa. Their sole purpose is to increase crypto awareness while developing skilled blockchain engineers.

By introducing blockchain into our education system, young minds can see its potential and develop the necessary skills. Most developers today stumble upon blockchain after years of programming and coding.

As a result, it is relatively harder and longer to understand and apply the very concept of blockchain. Alternatively, we can develop a new generation of blockchain engineers by providing a blockchain course in African universities. As a result, we are ushering in the Web3 age faster than we ever could.

Read: Crypsense bridging the information gap to warrant Africa’s digital transformation