Block, Inc., a global financial technology leader, announced the winners of the recent TBD Hackathon, a competition to spur innovation in payment systems across Africa. Held in conjunction with the Africa Bitcoin Conference, the event put on full display the innovative payment solutions developed using TBD's open-source protocol, tbDEX.

Blink is a decentralized wallet application developed by a developer named Emmanuel Kufre from Nigeria. The aim of the project was to ensure that freelancers had a rather easy way of getting paid and working. Blink leveraged blockchain technology to tap into Africa's $28 billion gig economy. For the innovative solution, Kufre was awarded a total of $15,000 in Bitcoin. Currently, a beta test is ongoing in five African countries.

Pioneering Payment Solutions in Africa

Participants in this hackathon worked on projects solving some of the big challenges: Limited access to traditional banking systems, high transaction costs, inefficiencies in cross-border payments, among others. Each team, made up of one to two developers, leveraged the tbDEX SDK in a sandbox environment to build their applications. Their projects tackled real-world financial challenges and showed how decentralized technologies can help advance financial inclusion and make transactions more efficient.

Angie Jones, Global VP of Developer Relations at Block said,

"The creativity and technical skills displayed have been truly inspiring. The solutions developed represent the future of financial systems in Africa, addressing real-world challenges with innovative approaches."

Other Award-Winning Projects

Two other teams received recognition for their innovative achievements:

  • tbDEX Go: This is an application created by Andrew Glago and Eloke Ikiliagwu that solves local payments in Africa for travelers and tourists. The team was awarded $10,000 in Bitcoin.
  • Igbigi: Created by Achego Tamunobelema and Fabari Agbora, Igbigi is a privacy-first payments app that allows users to easily make app-to-bank and app-to-app money transfers. They received $5,000 in Bitcoin.

Driving Financial Inclusion through Collaboration

Farida Bemba Nabourema, convener of the Africa Bitcoin Conference, had this to say about the role of collaboration in building out Africa's Bitcoin ecosystem:

"This event has brought out so much talent in our community. The innovative solutions presented address critical challenges, such as financial inclusion and transparency, with the potential to revolutionize how people transact across Africa."

The list of judges at the hackathon included some known names from Block and its TBD division, among other industry leaders like Chris Maurice, CEO of Yellow Card, and other experts in developer advocacy and blockchain technology.

Block's Commitment to Open-Source Innovation

Although the business operations are in wind-down mode for TBD, Block remains committed to creating open-source innovation. The work began in decentralized identity at TBD continued through the Decentralized Identity Foundation. The firm asks developers to view and join ongoing projects through Block's Open-Source GitHub organization.

The TBD Hackathon epitomizes the growing momentum of blockchain technology in Africa, where the most innovative minds tackle unique financial challenges facing the continent. As these solutions mature, they hold the promise of transforming the way people across Africa—and beyond—access and manage financial resources.