Domineum Blockchain Solutions, a leading distributed ledger technology company in Africa, took task to popular blockchain education by holding the Blockchain Developers Summit (BDS) on 21 & 22 July in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja. Themed “Stimulating Blockchain Adoption in Nigeria”, the summit was powered by BSV Blockchain, a distributed data ledger for enterprise-grade applications and services, and supported by National Information Technology Authority (NITDA).
Blockchain Developers Summit (BDS) is an international blockchain event aiming to help startups build solutions that can help address local needs by bringing together developers, startups, government, blockchain enthusiasts, industry and academia, offering exposure to BSV Blockchain resources and networks, and leading to the activation of the BSV Blockchain ecosystem in Africa.
The BDS 2022 Edition welcomed a record number of 1,500 participants, making it the largest Blockchain gathering in Africa. BDS 2022 was hosted over 15 sessions – networking sessions and panel sessions with industry experts – to discuss Blockchain and its adoption in Africa. BDS aimed to educate, impact and develop attendees with proper knowledge of Cryptocurrency and Blockchain, teaching them to leverage blockchain technology in everyday life.
The two-day event was held at Baze University, Abuja. As an official partner of Domineum Blockchain Solutions, the Industry plus Academia partnership officially launched the Blockchain-AI Lab at the summit. This is the first of its kind in Africa, poised to build and unlock potential by exploring the powerful capabilities BSV Blockchain offers, thereby accelerating blockchain adoption.
Speaking for the vision and motive behind the summit, Local Organising Committee Chairman and Domineum co-founder Mr Mohammed Ibrahim Jega said, “Blockchain is a technology that houses Cryptocurrency and many various ideas. It is important to demystify it, enable young people to take a proper grasp and expose themselves to this game-changing technology and take advantage of the numerous opportunities it presents.”
Domineum Blockchain COO Mr Chima Achu, who gave the welcome address on behalf of the Domineum team, said, “The goal of the summit is to unravel the mysteries behind Blockchain, debunk the myths and reinstate the facts clearly. As well as to provide exposure to youths to the many opportunities in the space.”
Summit speakers were industry leaders and experts including:
Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi – Director-General, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA)
Professor Umar Garba Danbatta – Executive Vice Chairman, NCC
Vincent O. Olatunji – Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer, NDPB
Mr Yau Isa Garba – National Director, National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (NCAIR)
Hadiza Saidu – General Manager, Pacer Ventures
Dr Usman Gambo Abdullahi – Director, IT Infrastructure Solutions, NITDA
Muhammad Yahaya Tambura – DG, Zamfara Information Technology Development Agency (ZITDA)
Industry speakers (panelists) featured:
Adedeji Owonibi – Co-Founder, Convexity Hub
Abubakar Umar – President and CEO, Excelian Technologies Ltd
Chimezie Chuta – Founder, Blockchain Nigeria User Group
Oyewole Joledo – Senior Manager, Partnerships, Paxful
Ajuma Ataguba – Managing Director, Founder Institute Abuja
Nnamdi Uba – Co-founder, HouseAfrica
Michal Scislowski – CEO, Soundoshi
Lorien Gamaroff – Co-founder & CEO, Centbee
Dr Maximilian Sinan Korkmaz – CEO, My2Cents
Day 1 primarily centered on the local tech ecosystem and how blockchain is becoming integrated. Speakers who took to the stage spoke about blockchain’s role in the future of Nigeria and why the ordinary Nigerian should be excited about the direction the country is taking. Keynote speaker Kashifu Inuwa, Director-General, NITDA reiterated the Agency’s stance on emerging technologies and laid out Nigeria’s Blockchain Adoption Strategies.
Day 1 also featured a pitch session in which three startups – TechBross, Green Life Energy, and Eduvacity -pitched to the attendees, explaining how their ideas could solve critical challenges facing the West African nation and beyond.
Day 2 saw the BSV Blockchain team officially launch the BSV ecosystem in Africa and announced the BSV Academy in Nigeria. Three of the BSV ecosystem’s innovators and startup founders took the stage for a panel discussion. Moderated by Domineum’s Mohammed Ibrahim Jega, they discussed how their startups are solving various challenges, leveraging BSV’s massive scaling.
Day 2 also saw three more startups making their pitches. By the end of it, TechBross emerged as the winner, attracting the interest of Satoshi Block Dojo, the Bitcoin industry’s leading startup incubator.
Blockchain Developers Summit was an ample opportunity to connect with like minds and boost one’s professional network. BDS is a pacesetter, leading the drive to the adoption of blockchain in Nigeria, and looking forward to seeing more young scholars doing great things in the blockchain and crypto space.
Watch highlights and the full summit video on YouTube at https://youtu.be/l7BagJvuJe0.
You can connect with Domineum and join the BDS network at https://training.domineum.io/. Or follow them on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook: @domineum
We look forward to the 2.0 of this summit as version 1.0 was such a mind-blowing success!
