The intended number of participants is over 2,000 which will be drawn from different parts of Africa, with a prize pool of $60,000... Polygon, the leading Web3 infrastructure used by some of the world’s biggest companies including Meta, Stripe, and Reddit, and Xend Finance, the leading global crypto bank, has announced Polygon Bootcamp, an eight-week intensive certified mentorship program and hackathon in Africa. According to a statement shared with Technext on Monday, the Bootcamp aims to solidify Polygon’s efforts in Africa, by equipping the participants with the required knowledge/education for blockchain development, financial incentives to motivate their interest in the space and offering mentorship/funding opportunities for outstanding developers. The Polygon Bootcamp and Hackathon will be the company’s first in Africa and introduce developers in the region to the Polygon ecosystem using Xend Finance and Polygon technologies. The intended number of participants is over 2,000 which will be drawn from different parts of Africa, with a prize pool of $60,000. “Africa has the greatest potential to harness the power of Web3 and bring a borderless economy and stability to its people,” said Sandeep Nailwal, COO and Co-Founder of Polygon. “We are excited to hold our first hackathon and bootcamp in Africa, which we hope to do for years to come.” Also commenting on the development, Ugochukwu Aronu, CEO of Xend Finance said: “As a Web3 infrastructure for developers, which includes a crypto payment API and wallet infrastructure, we are very excited to help a generation of developers reach a global audience”. “Working with Polygon allows our existing developer base, along with new developers, to tap into the power of the Polygon blockchain and ecosystem using our technology. We are Africa and we are proud to support our community.” “The Polygon Africa Bootcamp is one of the many initiatives we have undertaken in the continent. Polygon has partnered with various developer communities such as Web3Bridge, Web3Ladies, etc. to train and transition African Web2 developers into blockchain developers, equipping them with the necessary professionals and funds to give them the very best mentorship experience. We have also hosted and sponsored various conferences across Africa such as ETHSafari in Kenya, Africa Money & DeFi Summit in Ghana, and CryptoFest in South Africa, to enlighten Africans about the various possibilities of blockchain technology in the continent’s fintech industry,” said Dalip Tyagi, SVP, Developer Relations Lead at Polygon. Those chosen for the mentor-led program will learn how to build decentralized apps on the Polygon blockchain and receive the official Polygon Africa Bootcamp Certification upon completion. Mentors and judges will include Iyin Aboyeji, Founder & General Partner at Future Africa, Shodipo Ayomide, Global Head of Developer Advocacy of Polygon, Ugochukwu Aronu, CEO of Xend Finance, Victor Osaretin Asemota, and Yele Bademosi, CEO of Nestcoin, amongst others. Read also: Major boost for Ethereum as Polygon plans $450m raise led by Sequoia India. Breakdown of the Bootcamp The Bootcamp will consist of a 6-week learning phase and a 2-week hackathon phase where participants will have to build decentralized projects on Polygon blockchain and compete for huge financial & mentorship prizes. The Bootcamp will have two tracks namely: the Beginner track and the Mastery track. For the first six weeks, tagged the Learning Phase, participants will learn how to build on the Polygon blockchain, and also enjoy weekly sessions with mentors from Polygon and Xend. During the Hackathon/Build Phase, which will span for 2 weeks, participants will form teams or build projects individually with the help of Industry leaders. This phase will happen in both the Beginners and Mastery tracks. Participants at the Beginners track will be exposed to an introduction to Web3. This track will be open for developers who are new in the web3 spac...