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Ugandans working in Blockchain-related fields have been called to maximise their potential by coming up with digital solutions to the day-to-day problems afflicting the country.
They were urged to take time and design market-ready products while leveraging the untapped opportunities of the new technology in Uganda and Africa.
This call was made by Mr Awel Uwihanganye, the head of Leo Africa Institute while addressing a group of 20 trainees who completed a course in Blockchain in Kampala.
The training under the Blockchain Innovation Program was facilitated by tech-centric finance firm, CapitalSavvy in partnership with the BSV Blockchain Association and the London Block Dojo.
Mr Uwihanganye, also the Board Chairman of CapitalSavvy said at the graduation ceremony that in order for the trainees to break through in this new technology, they need to design products that are practical and relevant to the country and region at large.
“Success takes time; you are innovators and you might be in a hurry to want to put your name out there and break through very quickly, but it is important to be patient and understand your mission,” he said.
“The innovations you build must be useful to society and marketable. That requires patience and for you to work within your own time and not to allow other people to define what is success for you.”
“How you connect what you learnt to the market is also important, so use your time. It is easy to get disillusioned and self-doubt when you see some people moving at a faster pace than you, but you have to manage it,” he added.
The 20 trainees under CapitalSavvy’s Blockchain Innovation Program underwent 10 weeks of intensive training on the fundamentals needed to Build on the BSV Blockchain.
The Program’s periodic physical meet-ups also covered soft skills such as wellness, communication skills, and work ethics, to mention a few.
The CEO of CapitalSavvy, Reginald Tumusiime said that at the end of the program, the trainees took part in a hackathon where one Bronson Bakunga presented the winning innovation. Bronson won a cash prize of USD 5,000 from the firm and will have an opportunity to be mentored by several entrepreneurs within the BSV Blockchain Association networks and the London Dojo to further his idea.
Although none of the 20 succeeded in securing sponsorship for an accelerator program by the UK-based Block Dojo due to high competition from other countries, Tumusiime says in the future cohorts, his company will be seeking partnerships for seed-stage funding – which is exactly what most young entrepreneurs in the Blockchain space in Africa require.
The graduates of the first Cohort, he said, will still have access to the BSV Blockchain ecosystem, and will be able to interface with companies around the world and have opportunities for employment and networking.
“This program has given us the fundamentals, at least I know that there is code that can run on Bitcoin. Before I thought it was only for payments,” said one of the graduates, Mr Davin Oyesigye.
“The next cohort should get ample time to use the knowledge acquired to build applications, and dig deeper to come out with a product right out of the gate,” added Oyesigye.