Blockchain technology is packed with potential for Africa, and Lagos’ web3 ecosystem is here for it. Last week, Web3 Bridge, an upstart that helps to onboard young Africans into the web3 development space, held its annual three-day event dubbed the web3 Lagos Conference. The event brought hundreds of players in the web3 space together, including global names like Ethereum’s co-founder Vitalik Buterin and Gitcoin’s co-founder Kevin Owocki. Nestcoin’s Toyin Liza, Aya’s Eric Annan, and Bitpowr’s Amarachi Amaechi were some of the local players that spoke at the much-anticipated conference. NODO was present too, with reporters like Caleb Nnamani on the ground and Chidubem Emelumadu, NODO’s content operator, gracing the stage.

The Web3 Lagos conference reinforced the idea that technology in Africa will be driven by youths, which represented an overwhelming proportion of those in attendance. Million-dollar firms like Coinex and Starknet had regional representatives donning their tees and kicks in youthful fashion. A middle-aged man who manned the gate at Zone Park, where the event held, asked me if it was a party that attracted these “crowds of young people.” I told him that while parties are great, these young folks are gathering to build a system that will create prosperity for the country in ways previous generations only imagined. “Through web3?” he asked, minutes into our conversation.

It was a casual day at work for my friend at the gate, but within the halls and classrooms he secured, the future of web3 in Africa was being built, block by block, in the hearts and minds of attendees. Awosika Ayodeji and the rest of the convening team did a great job ensuring that planned activities created opportunities for technical and non-technical attendees to benefit and learn. Developers had aside sessions that explored concepts such as account abstraction, smart contract audit, understanding Ethereum nodes, and Blackops. For non-developers, sessions themed around understanding blockchain technology, contributing to DAOs, growing a career in web3, and leveraging web3 for a prosperous Africa were key highlights.

We’ll probably need to write a book to document everything we saw at the Web3 Lagos Conference, but here’s a quick list of five.

Young Africans are interested in DAOs

More African youths are interested in contributing to real-life projects through DAOs. MoonDAO’s Fiyin Odebunmi and StableLab’s Kenechukwu Eze were some of the sessions that zoomed in on the potential of young talents to leverage DAOs to create global relevance and participate in meaningful projects across the world.

💡DAOs (Decentralised autonomous organisations) are online communities created around a specific purpose; they leverage blockchain technology to make internal operations transparent and inclusive.

Wallets are the next big thing in Africa’s Web3 ecosystem

When Vitalik Buterin, the Ethereum Chief, was asked about his predictions for the next set of blockchain products to come out of Africa, he said, “Wallets affect how people experience blockchain technology. We’re going to see more and more intuitive and innovative wallets come out of Africa.” This prediction suggests that global wallet products with mass continental adoption, such as Trust Wallet and MetaMask, could face competition from Africa-native products in the coming years.

The bear market is a blessing in disguise

If you’re active in the crypto space, the current value of your coins is an indication that the bear market is probably not the best time for profitability. Blockchain-focused startups are also witnessing curtailed investors’ appetite amid an overall bearish venture market. These prevalent narratives, while true, are concealing the fact that bearish markets help to build stronger foundations and shift investors’ minds toward standard practices, explained Chidubem Emelemadu. As a case study, she showed how MakerDAO, an Ethereum-based protocol that offers crypto lending and borrowing functionalities, was thriving, having launched operations at the dawn of the bearish market. Many founders acknowledged that a key action point would be to take advantage of the bear market to build market-validated solutions that people can pay for.

Web3 must flex with Web2 to gain wider acceptance

In Africa, web3 is widely known for its abstractness and cult-like adoption. “But for Web3 to gain the kind of adoption the current internet has, stakeholders must push to integrate the users of Web2 technologies,” said Toyin Bamidele, a digital innovation officer at UNDP. His point is reflected in the thesis of EchoVC Chain, an $8 million blockchain fund whose founder, Eghosa Omoigui, told NODO that he invests in startups that create a bridge between the two technologies.

NODO is Africa’s foremost resource for Web3 insights

NODO was proudly represented at the Web3 Lagos Conference, one of the several blockchain-focused events that NODO is spotlighting in Africa. At these events, NODO gets to display its unique value to more Africans. Aside from providing the most useful insights and stories about the continent’s web3 ecosystem, NODO allows users to earn by reading or writing content on its platform. Experts can also leverage NODO to publish insights and grow their network. NODO will be at ETHSafari too!