Regional Lead · SingularityNET Africa 2024-01 → present · SingularityNET DeepFunding (DFR4 - MKT2)

SingularityNET African Community Initiative

SingularityNET African Community Initiative
4 — Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, EgyptCountries researched in depth
4 — UNILAG, LASU, UNICAL, University of GhanaUniversity clubs established
3,600+Conference registrants
1,106Conference in-person attendance
The problem

SingularityNET, a global decentralised AI platform, had negligible structured presence across African developer and research communities — no regional research base, no institutional footholds, and no route by which African practitioners could access DeepFunding, its decentralised funding mechanism.

The approach

A four-milestone programme funded through DeepFunding: original research mapping the AI ecosystems of Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa and Egypt; campus clubs as institutional anchors; a continental conference to establish presence at scale; and direct integration of African innovators into DeepFunding.

The outcome

Established a research base, institutional footholds in four universities across two countries, and a continental convening that reached over a thousand people in person — with DeepFunding mentorship converting attendance into funding applications.

Measured resultsEach with its source
MeasureResultSource
Countries researched in depth4 — Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, EgyptMilestone 1 report, 56pp
University clubs established4 — UNILAG, LASU, UNICAL, University of GhanaMilestone 2 report
Conference registrants3,600+Milestone 3 report
Conference in-person attendance1,106Milestone 3 report
DeepFunding workshop participants mentored60+Milestone 3 and 4 reports

Duke Peter serves as Regional Lead for SingularityNET Africa, leading ecosystem growth across Nigeria, Ghana, Rwanda, Ethiopia and Kenya and connecting developers, researchers and grassroots communities to a global decentralised AI network.

The SingularityNET African Community Initiative was delivered as a four-milestone programme funded through DeepFunding under reference DFR4 - MKT2.

Milestone 1 — Research and strategy

Duke Peter produced a 56-page research report analysing the AI ecosystems of Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa and Egypt: market size and growth trends, government strategy, investment patterns, key institutions and influencers, and a content strategy tailored to each country’s developer community.

Milestone 2 — Community infrastructure

SingularityNET campus clubs were established at the University of Lagos, Lagos State University, the University of Calabar and the University of Ghana in Accra. The original plan targeted Rwanda; local partner intelligence indicated Rwandan universities were on holiday, and the programme was redirected to Ghana rather than delivered against a calendar that would have produced empty rooms.

Partnerships were secured with Headstart Africa, Remostart, Starhive and Better Africa Foundation.

Note on verification: this milestone delivered a community website at singularitynet.africa. That domain no longer resolves. The claim is retained here because it is documented in the milestone report, but it is flagged rather than presented as independently checkable, pending either restoration of the domain or citation of an archived snapshot.

Milestone 3 — Continental AI/AGI conference

Man + Machine + Market Domination, held 5 December 2024 at Merit House, Abuja. See the speaking record for detail. Duke Peter both convened the conference and delivered a session on AI-driven business models, alongside a panel appearance.

Milestone 4 — Impact assessment and scaling

The final milestone assessed programme impact and set the review architecture for continuation: quarterly community feedback sessions, DeepFunding application tracking to measure conversion from workshop attendance to funding applications, a performance metrics dashboard, and an expert advisory board review. It also initiated SingularityNET’s African Ambassador Programme and began localising AI educational materials into French and Swahili.

Sources1 for this project

Check it yourself.

Delivered with: Headstart Africa, Remostart, Starhive, Better Africa Foundation.

The full source index ↗