Gm Gitcoin fam, here’s a retro on the Independent Grant Round focused on Africa during GG19.
Summary
This retrospective provides a quick overview of the Public Goods Africa Grant Round, which ran as an independent round in GG19.
Objectives and Goals
The Public Goods Africa Grant round was initiated with a clear set of objectives and goals aimed at nurturing and empowering the web3 ecosystem in Africa. The primary objectives were:
- Successfully pilot a QF Grant round solely focused on the African Continent
- Identify high impact projects and support them.
- Set a precedent for future QF initiatives and contribute significantly to the broader global web3 Public Good movement.
Implementation
As a pilot round with a smaller matching pool, we adopted a direct approach of identify projects for the round. Ten(10) projects were selected to partake in the round. Here’s the process we went through.
- Research and shortlisting : The selection process was a closed one. So we researched and shortlisted some high impact projects focused on Africa
- Call for Proposals : We then reached out to the projects inviting them to join the round
- Application Support : We provided help to those that needed support with applications and how to use Grant Stack.
Selection criteria for projects
The selection criteria for projects was fairly simple for this round. The criteria included
- The project must aim to make impact in Africa
- The project must aim to improve the Web3 ecosystem
- Projects must have been active for at least 3 months.
It is worth noting that we prioritize builder initiatives such as developer training programs, hackathon initiatives, and developer communities.
Outcomes and Statics
- Total donation was $727.12, about 15% of the matching fund
- We had an average donation of $ 4.13
- We did not detect any sybil attack
- No project reached the matching cap signaling a more reasonable disbursement of donations
Find the round report card here → Public Goods Africa | Gitcoin Round Report Card
Challenges and Learnings
- Some donors complained about technical issues. Some sent ff screenshot.
- Lots of new donors struggled with getting the right score on their Gitcoin passport.
- Other general challenges included total newbies not being familiar with L2s and bridging, not having funds to donate, etc.
- For Rounds with relatively smaller matching funds, it might be good to have a lower matching cap to enable more even distribution.
- We also wanted this to be a learning experience for all the projects involved. We wanted the projects to educate and onboard their community to the rounds. Therefore a lower matching cap leading to more even distribution could signal to projects not to put in much effort in educating and onboarding more donors from their community.
Community Feedback and Engagement
- Throughout the round, we were available to provide support to donors, grantees and anyone looking for specific support.
- We also hosted a series of X spaces to provide publicity and general education for Grantees, donors and the general public.
- Post round, we are engaging the community more to solicit further valuable feedback and suggestions.
- Public Goods Africa Grant Round Reflections twitter Space
- Public Good Africa Community - Retro on Public Goods Africa Grant Round on Telegram → Telegram: Contact @publicgoodAfrica
- X space on Grant Reflections → https://twitter.com/i/spaces/1LyxBnzdkwzxN
Recommendations for Future Grant Rounds
- Raising a bigger amount for the matching fund
- Adding more projects to round
- Expanding the criteria to include more specific objectives
- Embarking more education initiatives (Spaces, workshops, community AMAs, etc)
Conclusion
Expressing deep appreciation for all participants(Grantees, donors, funders, educators and the general Public Good audience). We view this round not just as a milestone but as foundations for a future where Web3 technology powered by Public Good Funding catalyzes social and economic change where builders, educators, innovators and change-makers can sustainably be funded to build for positive impact in Africa & beyond. We are excited for the future.
Acknowledgments 
