African developers are adopting a new community-first model for tech development, moving away from traditional short-burst hackathons. This approach, highlighted by the upcoming Cardano Africa Tech Summit (CATS26), emphasizes consulting local residents before building digital tools.

• The CATS26 summit on February 13, 2026 in Nairobi will showcase solutions developed by teams from Nigeria, Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Rwanda, and Burkina Faso.
• Darlington Wleh, President of the Blockchain Centre Nairobi (BCN), stated that developers first ask communities about their daily problems to build relevant solutions.
• Projects range from financial access in Nigeria and Ethiopia to supply chain tracking in eastern DRC and agricultural resilience in Burkina Faso, appealing to investors and governments.