Adeniyi Abiodun, co-founder of blockchain infrastructure firm Mysten Labs, and his wife, Gloria Abiodun, have unveiled a $1.3 million endowment fund aimed at training African software engineers. The initiative tackles a critical talent gap in Africa’s fast-growing tech ecosystem, ensuring more developers gain the skills needed to thrive in global industries.
The five-year fund, managed by Inurere Foundation, will provide student loans to aspiring engineers enrolled in the Techpreneurship programme at Semicolon Africa, a Nigerian workforce development company. Participants will learn advanced programming languages, including Move, which is widely used for smart contract development. Meedl Africa, a fintech company, will handle loan facilitation.
Under the programme, students can access ₦5 million ($3,300) loans at a 12% annual interest rate. Repayments will be reinvested into the fund to support future cohorts, creating a sustainable pipeline of tech talent. With over 800 software engineers already trained by Semicolon Africa, graduates of the programme will also receive job placement support.
“This fund is designed to scale talent development over time,” said Ashley Immanuel, Semicolon Africa’s COO. “By recycling loan repayments and blending them with additional funding sources, we can keep interest rates affordable—something that traditional financial institutions struggle to do, given Nigeria’s high MPR.”
For Abiodun, the initiative is personal. Before co-founding Mysten Labs, he held engineering roles at JP Morgan, HSBC, Oracle, and Meta’s now-defunct Novi project. He sees this fund as a way to give back while also preparing more engineers to work in blockchain and AI.
“Supporting Nigerian students while inviting more builders to learn the programming language that has defined my career is immensely rewarding,” Abiodun shared. “With the rise of AI and blockchain, we are committed to ensuring African students become high-level contributors to the global tech workforce.”
Africa’s demand for skilled tech professionals continues to surge, with the digital economy projected to hit $712 billion by 2050. Sam Immanuel, CEO of Semicolon Africa, believes this fund could be a model for bridging Africa’s education financing gap.
“We hope more individuals and companies will follow in the Abioduns’ footsteps, investing in sustainable talent development across the continent,” Sam said.
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