Kayandra standing in the middle of audience at the Bitnob Lokojah hackathon

Something special has been happening across Africa lately.

  • A huge wave of blockchain and tech events is sweeping the continent, and if you’ve been paying attention, you’ll have seen Bitnob right there, at the heart of it all.
  • They’re not just showing up; they’re genuinely committed to empowering the next generation of builders.

And that’s why I found myself in Lokoja, Nigeria, last week. This town hadn’t seen anything like it before.

Thanks to Bitnob, in partnership with BlockchainFUL, for hosting a three-day hackathon from August 11th to 13th, 2025— a total whirlwind of an event focused on one simple, powerful idea: turning big ideas into real solutions.

  • The energy was incredible.
  • It wasn’t just a bunch of students sitting around, silently coding. They were collaborating, brainstorming, and actually building projects to tackle some seriously tough, everyday community challenges.
  • It was amazing to witness.

For Bitnob, I think it’s about more than just a brand name. It’s about giving these young innovators the tools to make a real impact on their own communities, all while leveraging Bitnob’s super-useful API.

What’s the Bitnob API?

Think of it like a builder’s toolkit.

  • It’s a set of tools that lets developers build innovative solutions on top of Bitcoin, the Lightning Network, and Stablecoins.
  • Imagine being able to send and receive transactions, build your own payment processors, create wallets, and even enable Bitcoin-backed loans.

That’s the kind of power this API puts in the hands of creators. It’s all about providing the right tools to solve some of the most pressing problems we face.

How They Used It

Young People Sitting Around A Table At the Bitnob Hackathon in Lokojah

At the end of the Lokoja hackathon, as usual, three projects completely stole the show. They weren’t just technically cool; they were grounded in real-world problems. And you could tell the teams behind them were determined to bring their ideas to fruition.

GreenLedger

One of these projects is GreenLedger.

I spoke with the team last week, and they explained the problem so clearly.

  • Led by a brilliant mind named Okonkwo Chioma Lauretta. Her team’s solution hit on something so fundamental: agriculture. It’s the backbone of so much of Africa’s economy.
  • The platform lets farmers list their produce—whether it’s maize, tomatoes, or anything else—with clear pricing, photos, and quality details.
  • Verified buyers can then connect directly with them securely and transparently. Every single transaction is traceable, which builds trust for buyers and gives farmers the data they’ve always lacked.

AucFi

Another was AucFi, led by Caleb and his team.

  • They wanted to create a fair, decentralised marketplace. The idea was inspired by those online auction sites you see everywhere, where sellers list products without a fixed price and buyers bid against each other.
  • A seller lists a product, watches the bids roll in, and then decides which offer to accept. The payment is handled securely, with both parties protected until the transaction is complete.

The team explained to me that payments aren’t funnelled through traditional banks; they’re recorded directly on the blockchain via Bitnob API, just like a peer-to-peer exchange. It’s a completely new way of doing business.

BodalessGigs

Finally, there was BodalessGigs, from a team led by Abdulrazaq Saliu. They are building what I sometimes struggle with: getting paid as a freelancer.

  • PayPal is often unavailable or has tons of restrictions, and the fees and delays eat into your hard-earned money.
  • BodalessGigs is a solution powered by crypto. It lets freelancers get paid quickly and directly from anywhere in the world, without the usual roadblocks. Clients can pay with zero stress, and features for off-ramping and on-ramping allow those earnings to be converted into local currency whenever needed.
  • The team explained that Bitnob’s API would be the engine behind it all, supporting multiple stablecoin networks and making those transactions seamless.

Feeling of Possibilities

Young people sitting around a table brain storming at the Bitnob Lokojah Event

What tied these three projects together? They weren’t some abstract, tech-bro concepts.

  • They were grounded in the real world. Green Ledger is giving farmers a digital identity that could change our food systems. AucFi is building a marketplace based on fairness and trust.
  • And BodalessGigs is empowering freelancers to earn without borders.
  • They prove that blockchain isn’t just a buzzword; it’s a practical tool for solving everyday problems.

But maybe the most powerful thing that came out of the hackathon wasn’t the projects themselves. It was the feeling of possibility.

  • Participants left with more than just prototypes. They left with the confidence that innovation is within their reach.
  • They saw firsthand that the problems facing their communities can be solved by them, and that with the right API and enough determination, they can drive meaningful, lasting change.