Africa was identified early as a priority region for Cardano. Today, it remains one of the fastest-growing markets for digital adoption and developer activity. Yet, African stakeholders continue to be underrepresented in blockchain governance and strategic planning. Wada, with active hubs across West, East, Central, and Southern Africa, is well-positioned to address this gap through a structured, practical, and inclusive approach.

The initiative includes three components:

• First, Wada will organise at least 16 regional workshops across 13 African countries and the diaspora. These sessions will engage developers, regulators, entrepreneurs, and civil society to gather feedback and build shared understanding around Cardano’s roadmap priorities.
• Second, Wada will conduct research to capture adoption trends, infrastructure challenges, and high-impact use cases in sectors such as DeFi, AgriTech, and remittances. Insights will be compiled in a public data repository for ongoing ecosystem use.
• Third, Wada will deliver a synthesis report with recommendations and host the Cardano Blockchain Showcase – Africa Edition. This event will present findings and connect global Cardano actors with African innovators, institutions, and communities.

This initiative delivers both immediate and lasting value. In the short term, it integrates local insights into roadmap planning. In the long term, it creates reusable resources, fosters strategic partnerships, and strengthens Cardano’s visibility and adoption in Africa.

To support this work, Wada has submitted a budget based on a time and materials model. The budget covers workshops, research, and reporting. Wada is exploring a partnership that will reduce Showcase costs and requests to submit that budget component as an addendum by 21 April 2025. Any related materials and sponsorship income will also be documented in the addendum.

This proposal marks the beginning of a long-term, Africa-informed contribution to Cardano’s global evolution — with communities not only benefiting from the ecosystem, but actively shaping its future.

Note: If the lack of formatting functionalities makes for difficult reading, please refer to the full proposal document

To achieve true product–market fit by 2030, Cardano must develop its vision through deep, inclusive, and regionally grounded consultation, especially in Africa, where blockchain adoption is growing but engagement often remains surface-level.

Current efforts at developing the Cardano 2030 Vision rely heavily on virtual participation, which excludes a large share of local developers, users, and stakeholders due to high internet costs and unreliable electricity. This limits grassroots involvement and reinforces a perception of the African Cardano community as users rather than builders.

Wada’s initiative addresses this gap by enabling in-person workshops and localized research that bring community voices into the center of strategy development. It supports Cardano’s 2025 Vision and Roadmap while laying the groundwork for 2030 by uncovering adoption barriers, identifying regional opportunities, and creating buy-in through trust-based engagement.

This approach ensures that local communities are not just a target of Cardano’s growth, but a co-author of its future. It's time to go back to the drawing board, and “do with, and not to”.

Proposal Benefit

If implemented, this initiative will provide evidence-based, region-specific input to guide Cardano’s 2025–2030 Vision, grounded in local contexts where adoption is growing but uneven.

1. For Ecosystem Planners: Actionable data, policy insights, and user feedback to improve roadmap accuracy and global relevance.
2. For Developers: Increased awareness among Web2 and Web3 developers in Africa to support a shift from users to contributors.
3. For Projects & Enterprises: Identification of sector-specific use cases (DeFi, AgriTech, digital ID, remittances) to inform adoption pathways.
4. For African Communities: In-person engagement to build trust, inclusion, and local ownership of Cardano’s future.

Return on Investment

A low-cost, high-impact initiative that connects global strategy with local insight, enabling stronger adoption, increased developer activity, and long-term ecosystem growth. Key outputs like the Synthesis Report and Showcase will serve as reusable assets for the entire Cardano community.

Wada proposes a 6-month, 13-country initiative to:

1. Gather structured input from country specific communities
2. Generate research-driven insights and use cases
3. Deliver actionable contributions to Cardano’s long-term product vision

The project will be implemented through three coordinated phases:

• Community Engagement: 16 regional workshops across 4 African zones
• Data Collection: Market research, surveys, interviews, and focus groups
• Synthesis & Showcase: A final Synthesis Report and the Cardano Blockchain Showcase

Core Deliverables

• At least 16 Workshops engaging regional and local stakeholders.
• Open Data Repository on regional blockchain adoption trends
• Synthesis Report with policy insights and sector-specific briefs
• Showcase Event to present findings and connect Cardano with local institutions

Please see attached budget spreadsheet.

Implementation Timeline

Wada proposes a 6-month implementation period for the core research, engagement, and reporting components of this initiative. The Cardano Blockchain Showcase will be planned in parallel, with a dedicated execution window following the completion of the Synthesis Report.

Notes on Flexibility

The Showcase timeline will be finalised in coordination with Cardano and ecosystem partners. A minimum 2-month lead time is assumed for logistics and speaker alignment after the core project phase ends.

Wada’s regional hubs allow for simultaneous coordination, reducing risk of delays. If funding is approved by June 2025, Wada is prepared to begin implementation within 4 weeks.

Mercy Fordwoo

Co-Founder at Wada Global, Mercy champions blockchain adoption and community economic freedom across Africa. With over 25 years’ experience in project management, community engagement, healthcare process and systems improvement in Africa, Europe and North America, she spent much of her career in the natural resource management and healthcare sectors before diving into Cardano in late 2017.

Mercy remains deeply committed to using Web3 technologies to build inclusive systems. Mercy’s work is driven by a passion for decentralization, innovation and equitable access to transformative technology. She has played a key role in shaping Cardano’s governance, co-organizing the Ghana CIP 1694 and Constitutional workshops, whilst actively contributing to Intersect MBO’s Civics Committee and Constitution/Ratification Task Force.

She also leads efforts to establish hubs across sub-Saharan Africa, providing communities with education and opportunities in both blockchain and AI and currently splits her time between African and North America.

Joshua Fielding

In his role as Co-Founder and Global Lead for Wada, Josh oversees project implementation, business operations and the administration of global initiatives. He has successfully delivered over 20 projects in the Cardano ecosystem, supports Cardano’s infrastructure as a 4+ year Stake Pool Operator (SPO), and serves as Regional Manager for Intersect’s Africa community hubs.

Before joining Wada, Josh spent over a decade in fintech and startups, with a focus on banking, payments and lending across Europe, APAC and Africa. During this time, he also led teams for startup bootcamps and enterprise accelerators, building a strong foundation in project management and team leadership.

His work bridges strategic vision with hands-on technical delivery, making him a versatile asset in complex, multi-stakeholder environments.

The Wada Global Team

The core Wada Global team comprises seven members, each with diverse expertise spanning project management, blockchain development, community engagement and governance. Their collective experience includes leading decentralized initiatives, fostering Web3 adoption in Africa and contributing to Cardano's ecosystem through research, education and project execution.

Team members also play key roles in Intersect Governance as well as in Project Catalyst as proposers, reviewers and milestone assessors, whilst also serving as DReps to support decentralized governance.

Dee Evans

As an external consultant Dee provides support and guidance to the team at Wada across a number of core disciplines including Events planning and management. In a career spanning more than 40 years, her knowledge and experience in the fields of strategic and business management are underpinned by an approach which is guided by an innate desire to help and support other people and something she believes to be absolutely essential – her intuition.

Wada-Affiliated Hubs

Hubs and hub leads serve as key channels for executing projects across various regions. They drive community engagement, facilitate blockchain adoption and support local initiatives through education, research and development. Their leadership ensures the successful implementation of Wada’s mission, fostering innovation and decentralized growth within the Cardano ecosystem.

Wada Testimonial

Community Ownership

Insights, data, and relationships built through the workshops and research will be shared openly with the Cardano ecosystem. Local Cardano and Wada hubs and developers engaged during the process can continue driving adoption and implementation.

Reusable Resources

The Synthesis Report, stakeholder matrix, and sector-specific findings will serve as ongoing references for builders, governance bodies, and ecosystem partners. These materials can inform future proposals, policy work, and developer initiatives.

Partnership Networks

The Cardano Showcase will establish partnerships with public, private, and civil society actors, creating pathways for continued collaboration and funding. These relationships can sustain momentum through aligned projects or co-investment opportunities.

The Cardano 2025 Vision and Roadmap info action is expected to receive broad community acceptance which sets the requirement for a 2030 Vision plan necessitating this proposal.

Emanating from Japan, there's a strong emerging trend within the ecosystem to go back to Cardano's foundation of banking the unbanked and focussing on emerging markets such as Africa

In order to optimize use of funding, Wada will leverage all other ecosystem events and initiatives to reduce the overall cost of this proposal where ever possible