Into TechonomyAfrica
If you’re an avid Twitter user, something you would have noticed is the number of accounts with .Eth as part of their names. Or these monkeys and similar images as people’s Avis. Is this a crypto cult uprising? 🤔
And if you pay closer attention, there's a section always discussing (arguing) topics like decentralized finance (Defi), the (dis)advantages of web3 over web2, and how the metaverse is going to change social connections like company parties/functions for remote staff. Even former Twitter CEO, Jack Dorsey has been found in the middle of such conversations.
For people like me, this is all so very confusing. But thankfully, there are people building products to educate the not-so-enlightened bunch like us. One of such products is TechonomyAfrica.
What started as a blog by Linda Adaeze Obi is now growing into a full-blown Crypto and Blockchain Edutech platform/startup with a mission to help African millennials and Gen Zs build sustainable wealth calibrated for the new age.
Here's all you need to know about TechonomyAfrica.
About TechonomyAfrica
In October 2020, the Nigerian youth were out to protest police brutality and bad governance. This movement was titled #EndSars. During that period, donations were initially made with and received via fiat accounts which the government ended up freezing.
But something happened shortly after, donations continued via crypto. This was how the youth were able to provide feeding, health care, and legal assistance for each other during that time. And the government couldn't stop/control that.
This discovery triggered something in Linda which birthed TechonomyAfrica in November 2020.
There are 3 problem statements Techonomy is working to solve:
(i) “The number of the unskilled youth population is to grow by 42% by 2013 spiking the continent’s unemployment and poverty index, almost 4x.”
Techonomy is tackling this by empowering the youth with all they need to know on all thing blockchain and crypto, including how to use these to create wealth and opportunities.
(ii) “The cryptocurrency market is at a standstill. Africa serves as the biggest crypto market growing by 1200% in 2020. Yet the total cryptocurrency trade out of Africa in that same year, stood at about 105 million USD and 50% of these traders lose their money to crypto scams. The reported losses in 2020 amounted to about 40 million USD.
Investor education is a top focus on the TechonomyAfrica platform. By teaching their students the tips, tricks, necessary trade secrets, they hope to save the continent at least 20 million USD by the end of 2022.
(iii) “There’s a lack of diversity and inclusion and underrepresentation of African women in blockchain.”
This is what their portfolio project BABE; Building Afro Amazons in the Blockchain Ecosystem is meant to tackle.
With over 11, 000 students across 20 African countries, Techonomy has achieved product-market fit while empowering the next generation of Africans.
How TechonomyAfrica works
Techonomy simplifies the learning process so every African regardless of their background can understand how blockchain, crypto, and the other parts of it work. And how they can use this knowledge to create wealth for themselves too.
There's a tagline that governs their operations, which is: “you can learn anything in 60 seconds, or less”. You can see this through the short explanation videos on their website or LinkedIn which are easy explanations of their research into various articles and resources.
Techonomy gives students incentives such as tokens that they can use in getting scholarships on the platform in the future. Currently, all their courses are free to everyone, but eventually, they'll be accessible to only paying students.
About the founder
Linda Adaeze Obi is the founder and chief creator at TechonomyAfrica.
She refers to herself as a startup operator because of her over 18 years of experience scaling growth almost 5x for startups in retail tech, e-commerce, agric tech, and manufacturing.
Before she started TechonomyAfrica, she was previously at FarmCrowdy where she worked as Head of Operations & Support Services, then Business Leader. This was where she stumbled on blockchain tech through smart contracts, a by-product of blockchain. Since then, she has been exploring the different ways blockchain and its products can be used in different sectors.
To learn more about TechonomyAfrica, this is their website, and you can reach the founder here.