Lisk hosted Ethsafari 2025 in Nairobi. There, the story of African Web3 was told through living experiences, not through charts or white papers.
Beincrypto joined the panel. There, African founders and builders spoke openly about their struggles and breakthroughs. More importantly, they have revealed their vision to drive them to create products in one of the world’s most challenging environments for startups.
The founders of African Web3 share hard lessons, from grants to growth
What appeared was a portrait of Grit! Entrepreneurs are building their businesses to build lean budgets and accountability networks when institutional support is lacking.
Motivation? Apply blockchain not as a hype, but as a tool to solve deep, localized problems.
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Risk executives Dominique Schventer and Gideon Greaves pointed to this effect, but Binlipto wanted something intimate and personal with the builder himself.
Fundraising tightrope walk
For many founders, the most challenging task is not ideas or talent, but capital.
Local venture funds remain short, forcing entrepreneurs to balance the appeal of grants.
One founder warned that grants can be easily distracted.
“Grants can divert attention from product improvements, please donors, but don’t address customer needs.
Instead, incubation programs that combine modest funding with practical training have proven more influential.
“We didn’t want to throw cash at us. We wanted to be trained, pushed and accountable. That’s what really means to survive the business,” another founder shared.
This framing clearly highlights the African dilemma. It’s not a vanity metric, it’s a construction for sustainability.
Accountability as a currency
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Without the deep pocket VCS, the founders have designed their own discipline systems. One startup leader recalled how the simple peer accountability ritual changed his cohort.
“Every Friday we called and reported progress. Even if it was small, it wasn’t following us. We were chasing each other.
That structure has replaced the typical investor pressure seen elsewhere, being the peers responsible for their peers.
It created a network of mutual trust, which one participant described as “a currency as important as capital.”
From rarity to ingenuity
Constraints forced creativity. One founder recalled facing a $600 monthly fee to host a podcast on a US platform. Mathematics didn’t work for local creators. His solution: decentralization.
“I realized that Africans can’t pay $20 a month to host a podcast. They made something for St., and all of a sudden, people who didn’t think they could make it public every week now weren’t able to do it.
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Such stories reveal how Web3 is not an abstract theory, but a tool to unlock affordability and accessibility where global platforms overlook the market.
Incubation effect
Beyond individual victory, structured programs seed the ecosystem. Founders who joined the early cohort described how transformative the experience was.
“In the past, building a startup was just coding. But within the incubator, we had to think about marketing, compliance, our customers. It forced us to grow not only into developers, but real founders.”
Another addition:
“If I hadn’t been in the incubation program, I might have quit. But I’m surrounded by people as hungry as me, so I won’t sleep until 3am because we’re building everyone. It kept me going.”
The networks formed by these programs often last longer than the funding itself, creating a support web in cities and countries.
Compounding success
The recurring theme was the idea of ​​reinvestment. There, when the founders were successful, they repayed the favor and created a flywheel effect.
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“Even if you win a small win, it’s a blessing, because ecological compounds are something we’ll share tomorrow,” one participant told Beincrypto during the panel.
This idea reflects the transition from survival to abundance. All victory is not just individuals but collectives, building ecosystem bricks for each brick.
Why Africa is not catching up
Perhaps the strongest message was the rejection of the narrative that Africa was behind. Inevitably, African founders are building a more lean, sharper, more customer-centric business.
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“We’re not waiting to catch up. In some ways, we’re already moving ahead,” the panelist clearly states.
With Stablecoin-based merchant payments, a decentralized content platform and an accountability-driven incubation program, Africa is developing a Web3 culture that looks like Silicon Valley and seems unique.
Calling for investors and policymakers
Take-outs are clear for investors and policy makers. Supporting Africa’s Web3 is not about parachute capital, but about ecosystem strengthening where networks, training, and peer accountability are just as important as money.
Ethsafari’s panel demonstrated that Africa is not the frontier of Web3. That’s a proven basis. And the founders telling their story showed that the next wave of blockchain innovation could come with an African accent rather than a Silicon Valley accent.
