Co-founder of blockchain infrastructure firm Mysten Labs,Adeniyi Abiodun and his wife, Gloria Abiodun, have launched a $1.3 million endowment fund aimed at training African software engineers, tackling a critical talent shortage in the region’s tech ecosystem.
The five-year fund, managed by the Inurere Foundation, will offer student loans to aspiring software engineers enrolled in the Techpreneurship programme run by Semicolon Africa, a Nigerian workforce development company. Participants will gain hands-on experience in advanced programming languages, including Move, which is used for smart contract development. Fintech company Meedl Africa will facilitate the loans.
Each student loan will provide roughly ₦5 million ($3,300) at a 12% annual interest rate. Repayments will be recycled to fund new students, ensuring the programme’s long-term sustainability. Semicolon Africa, which has trained over 800 software engineers through the Techpreneurship programme, will also support graduates in securing employment after completing their training.
“Funds are recycled, meaning many more learners can be trained over time,” said Ashley Immanuel, Semicolon’s COO. “This fund isn’t seeking a financial return, and by blending traditional financial capital with endowment funds, it makes student loans far more affordable than what’s currently available in Nigeria.”
The initiative responds to Africa’s growing need for blockchain engineering talent, which is essential to sustaining the continent’s expanding digital economy. For Abiodun, the fund is deeply personal. Before co-founding Mysten Labs, he worked in engineering roles at JP Morgan, HSBC, Oracle, and Meta’s Novi, a digital wallet project.
“Supporting Nigerian students while encouraging more builders to learn the programming language that shaped my career is immensely rewarding,” Abiodun said. “With blockchain and AI on the rise, we want African students to become high-level contributors to the global tech workforce.”
Africa’s demand for skilled tech professionals is rising alongside its digital economy, projected to reach $712 billion by 2050. Sam Immanuel, CEO of Semicolon Africa, said the endowment could serve as a model for sustainable talent development across the continent.
“We hope more individuals and companies follow the Abioduns’ lead, investing in initiatives like this that address the education financing gap and nurture long-term talent growth,” he said.