₿trust Boosts African Bitcoin Education via Qala Acquisition

₿trust, a non-profit organization with funding from Jack Dorsey, co-founder of Twitter (now X) and supporter of bitcoin, is expanding its programs in Africa thanks to a recent acquisition.

The non-profit organization has acquired Qala, an African organization that trains Bitcoin and Lightning engineers. The acquisition will assist ₿trust in achieving its mission to advance the development and education of Bitcoin open-source engineers from the Global South, according to a joint statement from the two organizations.

As a result of the transaction, which was finalized on September 1, Qala will rebrand as the ₿trust Builders Program. Since its inception in 2021, Qala has been procuring, training, and matching African software developers with global Bitcoin firms to help them acquire the most pertinent skills in the global Bitcoin ecosystem.

A rebranding notice on Qala’s website. Source: Qala

According to the announcement, Qala has established one of the largest online Bitcoin developer communities in Africa, encompassing 42 countries, including Nigeria, Kenya, and Uganda.

Alumni of the programs have obtained positions at companies such as the Bitcoin-native banking platform Galoy in the Cloud, the Lightning Network-based messenger SphinxChat, and the peer-to-peer platform Bitnob, as well as open-source grants from ₿trust and Superlunar.

Under the provisions of the acquisition, Qala CEO Femi Longe and program manager Stephanie Titcombe will join ₿trust Builders as program leads.

Trust board member Ojoma Ochai stated, “We are incredibly proud to welcome Femi and his outstanding team to ₿trust,” adding that the Qala has made “rapid progress in driving open-source development in the Global South.

In February 2021, Dorsey announced the creation of the Bitcoin Development ₿trust to finance Bitcoin development worldwide.

At the time of the announcement, the non-profit was worth 500 BTC, or $23.7 million, and its initial focus was on teams in Africa and India.

In addition to Dorsey, crypto-friendly musician and producer Jay-Z initially funded the ₿trust. The organization’s current board of directors consists of Abubakar Nur Khalil, Carla Kirk-Cohen, Obi Nwosu, and Ochai.