The inaugural Cardano Africa Tech Summit (CATS26), set for February 13, 2026 in Nairobi, is positioning Africa as a frontrunner in community-driven blockchain improvement after a continent-wide hackathon that mobilised hundreds of younger builders.
Bringing collectively innovation groups from Nigeria, Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Burkina Faso, the summit highlights a fast-growing pan-African know-how community centered on constructing domestically grounded, globally scalable options.
Organisers say the initiative breaks from conventional “flash innovation” hackathons by requiring contributors to first interact with native communities, determine actual issues, and co-design instruments that instantly deal with these wants.
“This isn’t the standard hackathon chasing flashy concepts that vanish after the weekend. We started by asking communities: What wants to vary? What issues do you face day by day? Solely after listening did our builders begin constructing options that matter,” mentioned Darlington Wleh, President of the Blockchain Centre Nairobi.
Initiatives developed throughout the 5 taking part international locations goal a few of the area’s most crucial improvement challenges, together with:
Nigeria and Ethiopia: digital id, monetary inclusion and clear governance
DRC (Nyiragongo): supply-chain accountability and resource-management programs
Rwanda: blockchain-enabled public providers and cross-border commerce instruments
Burkina Faso (Inkuba Undertaking): agricultural resilience and group financial empowerment
The summit will function the fruits of the hackathon and a launchpad for partnerships with governments, improvement businesses and affect traders longing for scalable, culturally grounded innovation.
By spotlighting homegrown expertise and long-term improvement fashions, CATS26 goals to place Africa not solely as a beneficiary of world tech developments however as a producer of superior decentralized applied sciences for world markets.
Studying This Now 50
