A University of Lagos graduate who holds degrees in cell biology, genetics, and environmental biology, Olubunmi Fabanwo is now the man most directly responsible for building what may become the continent’s most consequential annual technology gathering. His path moved through leading the Binance Affiliate Program for Africa before he arrived at co-founding the Africa Blockchain Festival.
The idea behind the festival had been in the works for four years before it was finalized for 2025.
That deliberate pace matters.
The Africa Blockchain Festival describes itself as the biggest tech event organized by actual Africans, designed to shift the global narrative of the continent from tech consumer to leading digital innovator.
The inaugural edition ran from November 7 to 9 in Kigali, Rwanda, bringing together developers, investors, and policymakers to assess how blockchain and artificial intelligence can accelerate Africa’s economic integration and digital transformation.
Over 1,600 people attended. The festival convened over 1,600 policymakers, regulators, innovators, and investors and moved decisively beyond theoretical discussions to showcase tangible applications addressing systemic challenges.
Organized under the theme “Africa’s AI and Blockchain Renaissance,” the event focused on practical applications of blockchain in finance, education, and governance. Sessions went beyond keynotes. Discussions on digital safety, privacy, and deepfakes ran alongside panels showcasing African innovators building in decentralized finance, EdTech, and AI-powered social impact systems.
Fabanwo, the festival’s lead convener, said the aim was to make blockchain simple and relevant for Africans. That framing is deliberate. He argued that a designer in Lagos can sell to a buyer in London without a middleman, a musician in Nairobi can receive instant royalties from fans in California, and a filmmaker in Accra can raise funds directly from an audience.
At the festival’s closing dinner, Fabanwo expressed gratitude to the Rwandan hosts and promised a stronger next edition, while Rwanda Blockchain Association Chairman Norbert Haguma confirmed that the festival’s success had opened doors for more blockchain organizations to enter Rwanda.
Much of the western financial world still associates blockchain primarily with cryptocurrency trading, but a different story has been taking shape across Africa. The 2025 festival in Kigali captured that shift in a single venue, gathering developers, policymakers, and entrepreneurs around a shared argument: that blockchain’s most meaningful application is not speculative investment but the kind of structural reform that builds trust in institutions, land registries, supply chains, and public records.
The numbers behind that argument are growing harder to dismiss. Africa’s blockchain startups pulled in $34.7 million in investor funding in 2024, a figure that points to appetite extending well beyond the festival floor and into the calculations of people who move capital for a living.
That figure makes what Fabanwo is building more than symbolic. He believes Africa can create trusted systems that improve financial inclusion, strengthen public services, modernize trade, and unlock entirely new industries by leapfrogging legacy infrastructure.
The Africa Blockchain Festival 2026 will be held from October 15 to 17 at the Sarit Expo Centre in Nairobi, under the theme “Capital, Code, and Continuity: Building Africa’s Permanent Digital Economy,” with delegates expected from Africa, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and North America.
This year’s edition will feature co-hosting the World Token Summit and bring keynote presentations, policy discussions, investor forums, startup showcases, technical workshops, and exhibitions focused on blockchain infrastructure, AI, digital finance, cybersecurity, tokenization, and stablecoins.
The Africa Blockchain Festival has also announced the ABF Fellowship Program 2026, which will put selected founders in direct contact with investors during the three-day event, implemented in partnership with Antler and Launch Africa Ventures. The program extends beyond the event itself. Qualified startups will access the ABF Deal Room for focused investment conversations and will receive post-event mentorship to help founders prepare for future growth and investment opportunities.
Fabanwo said the Fellowship Program is intended to address the difficulty African startups face in accessing capital and experienced mentors. He put the problem plainly. “Africa has one of the youngest populations in the world, and that generation is growing up at a time when technology is completely changing what is possible. A young person in Nairobi, Kampala, Lagos, Kigali, Accra, or Dar es Salaam can build a solution today that potentially reaches millions of people,” Fabanwo said, adding that the challenge is making sure that talent has access to capital, mentorship, and networks.
Fabanwo also noted that regulation provides clarity and that clarity gives serious entrepreneurs, investors, and technology companies greater confidence to build, adding that African innovators no longer need to look to distant hubs like London or Dubai for global conversations.
Fabanwo said Kenya had demonstrated how innovation flourishes through talent, entrepreneurship, and supportive ecosystems, telling reporters that the country is helping shape Africa’s leadership in artificial intelligence, blockchain, and digital finance, and that there is no better place to convene conversations that will define Africa’s digital future.
From a four-year concept to a 1,600-person gathering in Kigali and now a continental program connecting African founders to global capital, Fabanwo, co-founder and chief executive of the Africa Blockchain Festival, said the vision has always extended far beyond cryptocurrency, toward building digital foundations that future generations deserve and creating trusted systems that improve financial inclusion and unlock entirely new industries.
