Blockchain Centre Nairobi co-founder and president Darlington Wleh/ HANDOUT
Kenya and other African countries should tap into the blockchain technology to drive intra-Africa trade and unlock financing for the private sector, experts now say.
This is in addition to solving community problems by tapping the thriving tech ecosystem to develop applications that will address existing challenges and shape the future.
According to Blockchain Centre (Nairobi), a hub for blockchain learning, events, and collaboration—connecting Web3 and Web2 communities in one inclusive space, blockchain eliminates the need for intermediaries and facilitates peer-to-peer transactions, increasing efficiency and reducing costs.
The technology is also decentralised, meaning that no single entity has control over the data, ensuring privacy and security.
Each transaction is visible to all participants in the network, which significantly reduces the potential for fraud and mismanagement of funds.
Blockchain Centre Co-Founder Darlington Wleh noted that the banking sector could also move fast to provide fast and more reliable payment systems, helping driver trade and investments in Kenya and the continent at large.
“So blockchain removes all of that need for these reserves that typically need to be put in place to facilitate inter-banking communications…in Kenya alone, there are billions that can now be available to be given out as loans and investments into businesses instead of just sitting in banks,” Wleh said.
Lack of an efficient payment ecosystem is among those blamed for slowing down the uptake of the African Continental Free Trade Area opportunities, which according to UN Trade, it has the potential to create a $3.4 trillion market.
This has seen experts call for expansion of the transport, energy and ICT networks, streamlining trade policies and processes such as customs and supporting industrialisation.
“Blockchain can also solve this issue of certification for goods and products.
Sometimes getting goods say from Kenya to other countries can be challenging because of different regulatory bodies, different standards you have to meet. Blockchain can solve this,” Wleh said.
He spoke in Nairobi during a developers forum in Nairobi, ahead of the Cardano Africa Tech Summit 2026 (CATS26), which will bring together countries to champion community-led blockchain innovation.
The Blockchain Centre is currently running a hackathon and mentorship programme that targets to bring out the best innovations in solving community problems in the country.
Outstanding innovations are then linked to firms, helped secure seed capital to start businesses or bought out by major players in the different sectors of the economy including providing solutions for government.
The inaugural Cardano Africa Tech Summit (CATS26), taking place on February 13, 2026, in Nairobi, will redefine how Africa builds technology for the world.
The Summit will mark the grand finale of a continent-wide hackathon that mobilised thousands of developers across Africa, to create sustainable blockchain solutions rooted in local challenges and community priorities.
The most compelling development is the pan-African innovation network emerging from this initiative.
From the thriving tech ecosystems of Nigeria and Ethiopia to community-driven development near Nyiragongo in the DRC, the entrepreneurial surge in Rwanda, and Burkina Faso’s grassroots Inkuba project, CATS26 demonstrates that the most powerful solutions for Africa are being designed by Africans themselves.
“This hackathon breaks from traditional flash innovation models. Instead, it adopts a regenerative development approach where developers must first engage with local communities, understand their realities, and co-design solutions that genuinely matter,” said Wleh who is also president, Blockchain Centre Nairobi.