2026-11-21 –, Pendulum - Main Stage
Beyond Adoption: Building Bitcoin Institutions Across Francophone Africa
Title: Beyond Adoption: Building Bitcoin Institutions Across Francophone Africa
While much of the global Bitcoin conversation focuses on retail adoption, the next phase of Bitcoin's growth in Africa will depend on building durable institutions, not just users.
In this talk, I will share firsthand lessons from organizing Conference Bitcoin Afrique, coordinating the CBA Federation across nine Francophone African countries, and working with policymakers, educators, developers, and entrepreneurs to integrate Bitcoin into local economies.
The session will explore:
1: Why Francophone Africa presents a unique opportunity for Bitcoin.
2: What it takes to build sustainable Bitcoin communities beyond meetups.
3: How education, developer ecosystems, and Lightning infrastructure reinforce one another.
4: Lessons from engaging governments and public institutions on Bitcoin as infrastructure for financial sovereignty rather than as a speculative asset.
5: A practical framework for building regional Bitcoin ecosystems that can be replicated in emerging markets around the world.
Attendees will leave with concrete insights into how Bitcoin can scale through community leadership, institutional engagement, and open collaboration, using real-world examples from one of the fastest-growing Bitcoin regions in Africa.
Nzonda Fotsing works at the intersection of Bitcoin infrastructure, financial education, and public policy across Francophone Africa.
He is the co-founder of BitBank, a Bitcoin and Lightning settlement infrastructure focused on the CEMAC and UEMOA economic regions, and the founder of the Conference Bitcoin Afrique (CBA). The inaugural edition, held in Douala in April 2025, brought together more than 400 participants, while the second edition, hosted in Ouagadougou in April 2026, welcomed over 650 attendees from 14 countries, including several ministerial delegations.
Recognized in 2025 as one of Africa's 21 Most Influential Bitcoiners, Nzonda serves as the convener of the CBA Federation an open network connecting Bitcoin communities across nine Francophone African countries. He is currently leading preparations for the third edition of Conference Bitcoin Afrique, which will take place in Kinshasa in April 2027.
His work on institutional and regulatory frameworks has led him to engage directly with governments across Francophone Africa, positioning Bitcoin as a tool for financial sovereignty and economic resilience. Rather than framing Bitcoin solely through the lens of cryptocurrency, he focuses on communicating its strategic value in the language of policymakers, regulators, and public institutions.