Applications have opened for the three-month Africa Blockchain Developer Programme.

The programme is an initiative of the Africa Blockchain Alliance in partnership with ConsenSys Academy, the educational arm of blockchain technology company ConsenSys.

The Africa Blockchain Alliance announced the launch of the programme in a statement in February.

The programme aims to give African developers the opportunity to gain the skills necessary to become industry-ready blockchain developers that can add significant value to their organisations, businesses, or make them marketable to top blockchain companies across the globe.

The second cohort of the Africa Blockchain Developer Programme will start later this month

In addition, the initiative trains helps developers with the tools they need to use the blockchain to solve some of the pressing problems in Africa and the world.

The first cohort of the programme graduated last month. While it is not clear when applications for the second cohort will close, the programme will start later this month. Those looking to apply can do so here.

The Africa Blockchain Alliance said in a statement last week that it is looking to increase the number of developers, as well as country representation within the next cohort.

To this end, the alliance will award scholarships to a number of developers, thanks to a $10 000 grant from ConsenSys Grants. The funding was announced in May during the 2019 Ethereal Summit in New York.

The alliance said the programme — which is mostly delivered online with in-person sessions in select cities — gives developers in Africa access to ConsenSys Academy’s developer course at a “significantly discounted rate”.

The programme currently costs developers in Africa $450, this while a similar ConsenSys Academy online course goes for $985.

Developers on the course will have access to dedicated mentors who will have weekly office hours with them for one to two hours per week and answer their questions daily.

In addition, developers will also have unlimited access to an online forum with over 2000 developers who are all current and past developers trained by Consensys Academy.

On successful completion of the programme, graduates will be issued certificates on the Ethereum blockchain and given the opportunity to work on blockchain projects in Africa and around the world.

Featured image: ConsenSys Academy via Facebook