Sanoh is said to have stepped down to launch Mansa, a new fintech for African businesses.

Mouloukou’s departure comes after a transformative year leading the company.

His leadership laid the foundation for Cassava’s accelerated growth in Africa. During his tenure, he cultivated a formidable network of collaborators, uniting prominent Web2 and Web3 brands such as Boomplay, Carry1st, Scooper, VSkit, Ficool, BoundlessPay, Stakefair, Katana Inu, Awujo, and others under the Cassava banner.

Reflecting on his departure, Mouloukou commented;

“The journey at Cassava Network has been nothing short of awe-inspiring. Our achievements in paving the way for Web3 in Africa speak volumes about the unyielding support from our team, board, and community leaders.”

Since its inception in 2021, Cassava Network has been an avant-garde force, driving blockchain infrastructure needed to transition Africa into the Web3 era. By introducing a digital identity system, multi-chain wallet, rewards platform, and NFTs, it has championed the migration from Web2 to Web3, fostering a thriving community along the way.

“It has been an exceptional privilege to contribute towards the Web3 renaissance across Africa. However, the time is ripe for a leadership transition at Cassava Network and for me to invest my efforts in a new venture,” Mouloukou shared.

As for his next chapter, Mouloukou Sanoh is turning his focus to the credit issue crippling SMEs in Africa. His new company, Mansa, is a protocol that addresses current DeFi lending protocols’ major shortcoming: the requirement for borrowers to provide an excess of cryptocurrency collateral. This requirement stifles potential borrowers globally.

Mansa’s innovative approach enables venture-backed businesses to leverage a myriad of assets as collateral, providing crypto access to a significantly larger pool of borrowers. By embracing this forward-thinking model, Mansa is poised to shatter the limitations of traditional financial systems and introduce a new era of decentralised finance.

Mansa’s goal is to “democratise access to financing for businesses in emerging markets,” providing tailored financing solutions to businesses through blockchain technology.

By connecting businesses with global investors and lenders, Mansa aims to bridge the gap between traditional financial systems and the evolving world of decentralised finance.

Dear Partners, investors and community members,

The second quarter for 2023 has ended, and we are excited to share our project report for the second quarter of the year. This quarter, we did a lot from the areas of product development, partnerships and marketing to reach a wide range of audiences. We’ve been hosting and co-hosting events with our network of partners and have gotten the word about Cassava out there through our events.

Read on to get the full update on what we did in Q2 2023, where we are and where we’re headed.

Latest News

Product Launch: Cassava V4 — Telegram Tasks, Referral and OATs Rewards System

On the 11th of April 2023, we launched the fourth iteration of the Cassava rewards platform which featured three very anticipated features- Telegram tasks integration, the Cassava referral system and the OATs rewards system.

Cassava V4 offered Cassava users more options to earn CB Coins while also earning on-chain achievement tokens(OATs) for completing simple tasks on Cassava.

For more details on Cassava V4, Read our Medium.

With the launch of Cassava V4, we offered brands more flexibility by allowing them to save tasks as drafts and publish them at their convenience. Users also had more options to earn CB Coins through the Telegram tasks and the referral system. With the on-chain achievement tokens rewards system (OATs), we offered our users the first on-chain rewards in the Cassava ecosystem. More integrations, such as NFT and token rewards, will follow suit.

More Features: Cassava Trust Circles, Quiz to Earn and Move to Earn

We went ahead to add three exciting features to Cassava V4. These features gave our users more options to engage and earn CB Coins while enjoying a gamified experience in the Cassava platform.

With the Cassava Trust Circle features, users can team up and earn CB Coins together for carrying out different simple tasks on the Cassava platform. We understand the importance of teamwork and through this feature, made it possible for our users to work as a team.

As we also prioritise education, we launched the Cassava Quiz to Earn feature to educate our users while offering them a gamified experience. Users can take part in different quizzes and earn CB Coins while learning and having fun. Our Quiz to Earn feature came packed with a leaderboard that ranks users based on the time taken to complete quizzes.

We also launched a Move to Earn feature to reward users with CB Coins for staying fit. Our Move to Earn feature has three milestones- 3,000, 5,000 and 10,000 steps. Users must hit the least milestone of 3,000 steps before their rewards can be unlocked.

Read more on the Cassava Trust Circles and Cassava Quiz to Earn and Move to Earn.

Cassava Web3 Community Tour

We spiced things up this quarter by kicking off the Cassava Web3 Community Tour. In Q2 2023, we hosted the Cassava Tours in Port Harcourt and Abuja in Nigeria. We had people come in numbers to see and understand what we’re doing at Cassava and how they stand to benefit by engaging actively in the Cassava ecosystem.

At our Tour in Port Harcourt and Abuja, we had lots of KOLs and Web3 enthusiasts in attendance. We also held panel sessions to discuss various topics that were beneficial to our audience.

Some of the mind-blowing pictures captured during these events can be seen below.

Marketing and Operations

We engaged our users with lots of activities and campaigns during this quarter. By the end of Q2, our community on Cassava had grown to 16.2k followers with over 47k task participants. Some of the marketing and operational activities we engaged in during the second quarter of 2023 are:

Physical Events

In addition to hosting the Cassava Web3 Community Tours in Port Harcourt and Abuja, we also actively participated in many other physical events where we discussed Cassava and shared our value proposition with users and brands.

On Saturday, 6th of May, 2023, we hosted the Cassava Partners and Community Mixer in Lagos, Nigeria. It was an invite-only event that brought together partners and brands that use our platform, treating them to a fun time while creating an avenue for everyone to network and connect.

Many partners and brands were represented at the event. We had the likes of Gamic Guild, Carry1st, Vibra, BoundlessPay, Play2Learn, Women in DeFi and many more. Our friends from Play2Learn also treated the attendees to some fun Web3 games giving out USDT rewards in the process.

We were also one of the major sponsors of the Expedition conference held in the University of Lagos where we gave out Cash rewards of up to 350,000 Naira. During the Event, our Head of Marketing, Harrison Obiefule spoke to the general audience about Cassava and what we’re doing in Africa. At the same time, our community manager, Sarah Idahosa coordinated the issuance of our merch and cash rewards.

In attendance were dignitaries like the Vice Chancellor of Unilag, Prof. Folasade Ogunsola and the Keynote speaker, Dr Tunde Lemo, a Nigerian banker and the current chairman of Titan Bank and Flutterwave.

We also took part actively in many other events, some of which include; The Future of Web3 Social, Make NFT Pop in HK, and The Future of Digital Transformation hosted by Blockchain Vibes.

Marketing Campaigns

We launched many campaigns in the second quarter of this year. Many of these campaigns were directed towards promoting new features while some were directed towards user acquisition.

The exciting campaigns we explored during the second quarter of this year are:

Cassava Network Referral Competition

On the launch of our referral feature, we launched the Cassava Network referral competition with a prize pool of up to $100,000. The competition lasted for two weeks and during this time, more than 24,000 new users joined the Cassava platform with a reward pool of $10k unlocked.

Cassava Loyalty League

After completing the Cassava Network referral competition, we went ahead to launch the Cassava loyalty league with a prize pool of $100,000. Users had to refer new users to Cassava to participate in the loyalty league. The more users referred, the more you rank on the leaderboard. The Loyalty League was launched as a bi-weekly competition, the leaderboard was refreshed, and rewards were issued every two weeks.

For more information on the Cassava Loyalty League, click here.

Cassava Trust Circle Triumph

We also launched a campaign to promote the Cassava Trust Circle feature. To join the campaign, users had to create an account on Cassava and join a Trust Circle. We had lots of entries and at the end of the Campaign, winners were picked and rewards sent out.

Cassava Network x NODO Community Campaign

In collaboration with NODO, we launched a campaign to reward users for testing out and providing feedback for the Quiz to Earn feature. To take part in the campaign, users were required to sign up on both Cassava and NODO, download the Cassava app, take a quiz and rank on the leaderboard, complete the social media engagement tasks and finally fill in the campaign form provided.

The campaign started on the 26th of June and will run until the 10th of July. To unlock the rewards for the campaign, Cassava has to hit a milestone of 500 upvotes and 500 feedbacks on the NODO platform.

Cassava Ambassadorship and Legends Program

As we continued to expand our reach in Africa and in a bid to gain more users, we kicked off the Cassava Ambassadorship and Legends program. Our Ambassadors and Legends were tasked with referring more users to the Cassava platform, creating content across social media, hosting events in their institutions and generally spreading the word about Cassava.

At this time, we have 19 Ambassadors and more than 100 Legends.

Exciting New Partnerships

We prioritise partnerships here at Cassava as it plays a significant role in our mission of onboarding Africans into Web3. Through cross-marketing efforts with new partners, we reached over 1.3 million users across social media.

The brands we partnered with in the second quarter of 2023 are; Deri Trade, Flappy MoonBird, Yeeha games, Gameta, Cubic, Gamic, AICoin, AStarter, Dango, Merlin Protocol, Mises Browser, HXR Trade, Wavy, Kepler Homes, Gruve Tickets, Token Tag and NODO.

User Education

We educated users and kept them updated about our products offering and other activities happening in the Cassava ecosystem through our social media pages and Medium blog.

The articles published in the second quarter of this year are;

• Cassava V4: Earn more rewards through our referral and OATs rewards systems
• Cassava Network partners with Gamic to reward active participation across Web3 communities in Africa
• Cassava Referral Competition: Refer your friends and Earn from a reward pool of up to $100,000
• Introducing Cassava Trust Circles: Connect with Close friends and Earn CB Coins Together
• Cassava Network at the Expedition Conference held in Unilag
• Introducing the Cassava Loyalty League: Refer new users and Earn rewards every two weeks
• Cassava Partners and Community Mixer
• Re-introducing CB Coins and their Utility in the Cassava Ecosystem
• Cassava Network Global Ambassadorship Program
• Cassava Trust Circle Triumph: Team up and Win!
• Introducing the Cassava Quiz to Earn and Move to Earn Features

AMAs, Twitter Spaces and Enlighten U Series

Education is one of our priorities here at Cassava and as one of our strategies for educating users and keeping them updated with happenings in the Cassava Ecosystem and beyond, we hosted and we invited as guests in different AMA and Twitter space sessions. During the AMAs, we spoke to the audience about Cassava and how individuals and brands can get the best value while using our product.

Here’s a list of the AMAs we hosted and co-hosted:

• Demystifying the Blockchain Technology
• Cassava x Big Time Twitter Space
• BoundlessPay x Cassava Partnership Twitter Space
• Understanding Blockchain Consensus Mechanisms
• The Need for Blockchain Education in Africa
• Cassava x Puff AMA
• Cassava x Gameta AMA
• Africans and Web3
• Understanding Blockchain Layers
• Impact of Active Participation in Communities
• Cassava x Life DeFi AMA
• Earning Using the Blockchain Technology
• Web3 Education and Mass Adoption
• How can Task Platforms Help DeFi?
• Cassava x Wavy AMA
• Staying Secure in the Blockchain Space
• Impact of Social Media on Web3 Community Building
• Web3 Adoption in Africa and Latam
• Buying your First Crypto Asset
• Web3 and the Gig Economy
• Understanding DAOs
• Web3 Partnerships and Collaborations
• Entering the World of Decentralized Finance
• Investing in Web3
• Cassava x Gamic AMA
• Navigating the Blockchain Job Ecosystem
• Impact of DeFi on Financial Inclusion
• User-Generated Content as a Tool for Community Growth
• Web3 for All
• Opportunities in the Crypto Space
• Integrating Web2 Skills in Web3

What Next?

We will continue to engage our community with programmes like AMAs, Twitter spaces, community calls, quizzes and other content across social media. We will keep an eye on industry conferences and events where we can represent Cassava and share our vision, and will always be on the lookout for brands whose mission aligns with ours to partner with.

ABC of Blockchain Book

In collaboration with the Pan Atlantic University, we will publish a book by the third quarter of 2023. The book titled ‘The ABC of Blockchain’ is a beginner-friendly book that addresses various topics in Web3. The publication of this book is in line with one of our core priorities at Cassava- Education.

Cassava Website Revamp

We are revamping the Cassava website to serve our users better and communicate the core of our brand. While still under development, our new website will feature new sections like a team profile section, a media coverage section, and a section for all the testimonials from the communities and partner brands that use our platform. This will be launched in Q3 2023.

Cassava AfriMyth Avatar Redesign

We have concluded the redesign of the Cassava AfriMyth Avatars. The new version of the Avatars includes features such as facial expressions, head wears, African-themed backgrounds, and so much more. In Q3 2023, we will integrate the new Avatars into our AfriMyth Avatar generator and users will be able to create beautiful-looking Avatars based on the new version.

Our mission remains unchanged. We want to be the go-to platform for everything Web3 in Africa. As a result of this, we have been up and doing in the areas of development, marketing, partnership and even education.

Mouloukou is also an Investment Manager at Adaverse, a $100 million fund backed by Emurgo, and a Vice President Emerging Markets at Everest Ventures Group, a global venture studio.

Additionally, he previously ran Mansa Capital, an investment advisory firm helping African startups raise funding. Past deals completed by Mr. Mouloukou include Crowdforce, Skygarden, Omnisient, Kwara and more.

As a global character who has lived in four countries, namely; China, Guinea, Netherlands and Belgium, Mouloukou has cultivated a culture of adaptability and an open minded nature.

He speaks in varying degrees of fluency, French, English, Mandarin Chinese and Mandingo.

Mouloukou has his eyes presently focused on Africa as he explains in this brief interview:

Do you plan to carry out more education and conversations around crypto, Metaverse and Blockchain Technology in Nigeria?

We aim to do bigger and more events throughout Africa and not only Nigeria. Education is key in the emerging tech space.

Although Nigeria is the biggest crypto market we have seen in Africa, we believe that there are opportunities everywhere on the continent; there are opportunities in Kenya, Ghana, and there are opportunities even in places like Sudan and Ethiopia.

We believe that Cassava Network as a global company has to reach everywhere. Nevertheless, we’re a global company with very strong African roots.

The plan is to dominate the African market and once we’ve dominated the African market we go on a global expansion to places like Southeast Asia and Latin America.

Now, Blockchain Technology, you have to look at the landscape of payments in regards to the African continent. So, number one is cost.

According to the World Bank it costs 11% to send money to Africa. I think in 2022 the figure was 6 billion dollars paid in fees to all these remittance providers like Western Union. First of all, that is ridiculously expensive.

Secondly, it’s a very slow process, like it takes up to 3 to 4 days. Sometimes, you can’t even send money to places like Nigeria because they’ve been blacklisted. So, sending money to Africa and within the African continent is extremely difficult because of all the different capital controls, but when you bring into consideration the Blockchain Technology then you see different use cases.

The most important is remittance as mentioned. You can send money from anywhere around the world to Africa in a matter of seconds. All you need is a crypto wallet and stablecoins.

Actually, you don’t even need stablecoins but stablecoins is the easiest form for sending money. You can send stablecoins. You can send and receive money because you have a crypto wallet and if you have a history of spending and receiving money, you can access loans.

So, let’s think about that farmer that is in the remote village in Kano State where the bank is 10km away. If he goes to the bank and asks for a loan in order to increase his crop, the bank is not going to give it to him because he has no financial history but if he has crypto wallet and he has been sending money back and forth, then he creates a financial history and from that he’s able to get a loan from many crypto companies and because he has a loan, he can increase his crop and eventually he can increase the livelihood for himself and his family.

There are many solutions we’re starting to see, such as crypto investment accounts like fixed accounts, just like savings accounts or like investment accounts, there are different things that the ecosystem and the current financial infrastructure on the continent has simply not been able to provide to the masses.

Cassava Network raised a sizable fund some time ago, but are you looking at raising more funds soon?

Yes, we raised funds and that goes to show different investors believe in what we’re building in the market. Secondly, it shows the attractiveness of African opportunities to global investors. Yes, we’re very happy to have all these investors on board with us.

Our token which was supposed to be released this year is on pause given market conditions. We have paused the release of our token till market conditions improve but I was talking to different utility providers, you can even stake our tokens to earn rewards and many other things.

So, for more information please keep your eyes on our various social media channels and you shall get more information.

Few weeks back, Cassava Network introduced the AfriMyth Avatar generators. So, how does it fit into your plans for the Nigerian or African market?

Perfect. So when you look at the AfriMyth Avatars, they are reflections of African mythology and are named based on traditional African mythology. So, together with the NFT collection, we wanted to showcase our African heritage to the world. But these avatars are more than just avatars. They are your digital identity, which allows you to access the Cassava rewards protocol.

Cassava Network’s interest is to harness the growing interest in Blockchain Technology across Africa by creating a stepping stone for users to enter the world of cryptocurrencies and Web3.

Also, with AfriMyth, we’re paying tribute to the rich and diverse people and their stories from across Africa and sharing them with the world. It’s also the first step on our journey towards widespread Web3 adoption as we look to roll out Cassava’s Web3 infrastructure over the coming months and years.

What is your plan for the coming year?

Our plan next year is simply to dominate the market, that’s the plan for next year. For the past few months, we’ve been seeing what the ecosystem needs and we’re going to focus more on what our users need.

Also, African crypto consumer demands, it’s going ​​​​to be exciting next year, you’ll see us collaborating with bigger artists. Definitely, you’ll see our presence beyond Nigeria. Over the next year I’m spending time in Kenya, Egypt, Ghana and Senegal, essentially all over the continent.

We’ll increase our hiring, we’d partner with more artists. We’d do more global exhibitions.

We have some plans to do exhibitions, like we’ve done in London, in Hong Kong, in Miami and even in other cities. We plan to partner with bigger names and partners.

There are few names already on board which I don’t want to reveal at this moment. What I can tell your readers is to watch out, it’s coming and we’re coming to provide better solutions for the everyday crypto user in Nigeria and in Africa.