FUNDING | 5 African Projects Among the Recipients of $12.8 Million Ethereum Ecosystem Grant Program in Q3 2024

Ethereum, the global blockchain platform, announced it awarded $12.8 million in grants during the third quarter to support companies and projects enhancing its ecosystem.

In a blog post, the Ethereum Foundation revealed that it distributed the $12.8 million through its Ecosystem Support Program among 75 companies, including five African firms, though the exact allocation was not disclosed.

The successful African projects are listed below and the reasons for the award:

• Borderless Africa: Supporting the second cohort of magma, a 2-week residency organized in Kenya for African builders and founders comprising office hour sessions, peer-to-peer coordination, and workshops.
• Danny Thomx: 3-month free technical and non-technical Ethereum training program run in Rwanda.
• Web3Clubs: 3-month Solidity program and in-person Solidity bootcamps organized in Nairobi, Kenya.
• Africa Blockchain Institute: Bootcamp introducing teenagers to blockchain through hands-on learning, workshops, and collaborative projects organized in Cotonou, Benin and taught in French.
• Web3Bridge: Support for Cohorts XI and XII of the Nigerian Web3Bridge program, a 16-week hybrid course focused on training developers in Solidity and other web3 technologies.

The Ethereum Foundation’s Ecosystem Support Program (ESP) is its public-facing grant initiative, aimed at funding projects that strengthen the Ethereum ecosystem, support open-source developer tools, and educate the community.

Throughout the year, the Ethereum Foundation has distributed over $31 million to various companies globally, with more than 10 African companies benefiting from the program.

2024 saw increased Ethereum support for projects on the continent, most notably holding the Ethereum blockchain’s interop event, dubbed Nyota, in Nairobi, Kenya in May 2024 as was noted by core developer, Tim Beiko.

“Ethereum client, testing and research teams from around the world gathered together for a week of intense work on the Pectra network upgrade, PeerDAS and the Verge,” said Tim Beiko, a non-executive employee of the Ethereum Foundation who runs the core protocol meetings for Ethereum.

The event brought a host of Ethereum core contributors to Africa, where besides their work activities they spent time engaging builders from the continent.