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JED XOSpotlighting African Builders EP11: David & Gamifying Crypto Education with Play to Learn
David’s Entry into Web3David’s introduction to the crypto space came in an unusual way, through a referral-based Ethereum scheme called “Ethereum Million Money” back in 2017. While short-lived and ultimately structured like a pyramid scheme, the experience planted a seed of curiosity. His real turning point came later, when a friend needed to receive money from abroad. Watching crypto enable a fast, fee-less transfer showed David its real-world potential and pulled him deeper into Web3.The Sp...
JED XOSpotlighting African Builders EP8: A conversation with Yvonne Kagondu, Head of ICP HUB Kenya
In this episode of Spotlighting African Builders, we sat down with Yvonne Kagondu — Head of ICP Hub Kenya to explore her journey in blockchain and how she’s shaping the future of Web3 across the continent. Yvonne is at the helm of one of Africa’s most active Web3 ecosystems. Through ICP Hub Kenya, her mission is to evangelize, educate, incubate, and launch meaningful blockchain projects. To date, the hub has trained over 1,000 developers in Kenya, with additional ICP hubs emerging across Nige...
JED XOThe Missing Link to Blockchain Adoption
The first event I attended this year was in April, a Bitget event in Abuja. It leaned more toward marketing than education, but it was still interesting to see how people responded to the buzz around crypto. A few weeks later, I joined the Avalanche Campus Tour, which had a completely different energy. This one was focused on education and onboarding, especially for newbies. The atmosphere was fresh, exciting, and relatable—you could feel the curiosity in the room as people asked questions, s...
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JED XOSpotlighting African Builders EP11: David & Gamifying Crypto Education with Play to Learn
David’s Entry into Web3David’s introduction to the crypto space came in an unusual way, through a referral-based Ethereum scheme called “Ethereum Million Money” back in 2017. While short-lived and ultimately structured like a pyramid scheme, the experience planted a seed of curiosity. His real turning point came later, when a friend needed to receive money from abroad. Watching crypto enable a fast, fee-less transfer showed David its real-world potential and pulled him deeper into Web3.The Sp...
JED XOSpotlighting African Builders EP8: A conversation with Yvonne Kagondu, Head of ICP HUB Kenya
In this episode of Spotlighting African Builders, we sat down with Yvonne Kagondu — Head of ICP Hub Kenya to explore her journey in blockchain and how she’s shaping the future of Web3 across the continent. Yvonne is at the helm of one of Africa’s most active Web3 ecosystems. Through ICP Hub Kenya, her mission is to evangelize, educate, incubate, and launch meaningful blockchain projects. To date, the hub has trained over 1,000 developers in Kenya, with additional ICP hubs emerging across Nige...
JED XOThe Missing Link to Blockchain Adoption
The first event I attended this year was in April, a Bitget event in Abuja. It leaned more toward marketing than education, but it was still interesting to see how people responded to the buzz around crypto. A few weeks later, I joined the Avalanche Campus Tour, which had a completely different energy. This one was focused on education and onboarding, especially for newbies. The atmosphere was fresh, exciting, and relatable—you could feel the curiosity in the room as people asked questions, s...
On Friday tye 25th of July 2025, I had the pleasure of hosting another episode of Spotlighting African Builders. This time, I sat down with Kevin Chibuoyim, a community builder, educator, and founder whose work is actively reshaping tech, creativity, and community across the continent.
Kevin's journey into Web3 wasn’t paved with perfect moments. He entered the space driven by curiosity and a desire to build something more meaningful than the traditional path offered. Like many early explorers in this space, he got burned scammed multiple times. But instead of walking away, he turned that pain into purpose.
That purpose became GIDA, Gina Kev Digital Academy. Since 2020, it’s been teaching blockchain, Web3, and digital literacy across Africa, completely free. What makes it special is how it’s built by the people, for the people. Learners are encouraged to become educators themselves, creating a ripple effect of empowerment and shared knowledge.
GIDA’s bootcamps span everything from development to trading and design. At its core is a strong message: skill acquisition is more sustainable than chasing airdrops or hype. And I couldn’t agree more.
One of Kevin’s most ambitious projects yet is ETH Enugu—Nigeria’s first Ethereum conference set for August 4th to 16th. And this isn’t your typical tech event. It's a full-on ecosystem experience: builder residencies, a pop-up city, and an Ethereum Research Village (ERV) where builders can engage in protocol research, node operations, and academic writing.
It’s clear he’s not just trying to host an event, he’s rewriting the narrative around Africa’s involvement in Ethereum. And he’s doing it with or without institutional backing. That’s real builder energy.
Beyond the conference, Kevin’s also been on the ground for years, co-founding Blockchain UNN, a student club that introduced blockchain education to the University of Nigeria. That grassroots work is the foundation for everything he’s doing now.
What stood out to me the most during our conversation was his deep commitment to keeping value on the continent. It’s not just about getting African devs jobs abroad, it’s about building startups, research labs, and education pipelines here.
We talked about cultural differences between ecosystems, too. Kevin highlighted how Nigerian builders tend to move with urgency and volume, while other regions bring different strengths. The real win, though, lies in cross-pollinating these ecosystems and learning from one another.
We closed the space with a look at what’s ahead, especially the potential of the ETH Enugu hackathon, which comes with a $300,000 prize pool. It’s a real opportunity for African developers to engage with Ethereum in ways that go beyond DeFi and dapps to research, protocol design, and contribution at the core level.
As always, I walked away inspired, not just by what Kevin’s doing, but by the conviction behind it. There’s a shift happening, and people like him are helping lead it.
🎧 You can catch the full conversation here:https://x.com/i/spaces/1DXxyqjLjgZxM
Check out Ofiicial GIDA and ETH Enugu websites:
Much love to We Them Media for making this series possible and for continuing to spotlight the builders shaping the future of African innovation.
On Friday tye 25th of July 2025, I had the pleasure of hosting another episode of Spotlighting African Builders. This time, I sat down with Kevin Chibuoyim, a community builder, educator, and founder whose work is actively reshaping tech, creativity, and community across the continent.
Kevin's journey into Web3 wasn’t paved with perfect moments. He entered the space driven by curiosity and a desire to build something more meaningful than the traditional path offered. Like many early explorers in this space, he got burned scammed multiple times. But instead of walking away, he turned that pain into purpose.
That purpose became GIDA, Gina Kev Digital Academy. Since 2020, it’s been teaching blockchain, Web3, and digital literacy across Africa, completely free. What makes it special is how it’s built by the people, for the people. Learners are encouraged to become educators themselves, creating a ripple effect of empowerment and shared knowledge.
GIDA’s bootcamps span everything from development to trading and design. At its core is a strong message: skill acquisition is more sustainable than chasing airdrops or hype. And I couldn’t agree more.
One of Kevin’s most ambitious projects yet is ETH Enugu—Nigeria’s first Ethereum conference set for August 4th to 16th. And this isn’t your typical tech event. It's a full-on ecosystem experience: builder residencies, a pop-up city, and an Ethereum Research Village (ERV) where builders can engage in protocol research, node operations, and academic writing.
It’s clear he’s not just trying to host an event, he’s rewriting the narrative around Africa’s involvement in Ethereum. And he’s doing it with or without institutional backing. That’s real builder energy.
Beyond the conference, Kevin’s also been on the ground for years, co-founding Blockchain UNN, a student club that introduced blockchain education to the University of Nigeria. That grassroots work is the foundation for everything he’s doing now.
What stood out to me the most during our conversation was his deep commitment to keeping value on the continent. It’s not just about getting African devs jobs abroad, it’s about building startups, research labs, and education pipelines here.
We talked about cultural differences between ecosystems, too. Kevin highlighted how Nigerian builders tend to move with urgency and volume, while other regions bring different strengths. The real win, though, lies in cross-pollinating these ecosystems and learning from one another.
We closed the space with a look at what’s ahead, especially the potential of the ETH Enugu hackathon, which comes with a $300,000 prize pool. It’s a real opportunity for African developers to engage with Ethereum in ways that go beyond DeFi and dapps to research, protocol design, and contribution at the core level.
As always, I walked away inspired, not just by what Kevin’s doing, but by the conviction behind it. There’s a shift happening, and people like him are helping lead it.
🎧 You can catch the full conversation here:https://x.com/i/spaces/1DXxyqjLjgZxM
Check out Ofiicial GIDA and ETH Enugu websites:
Much love to We Them Media for making this series possible and for continuing to spotlight the builders shaping the future of African innovation.
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