The 2026 edition of the Southeast Blockchain and Games Week (SEBGW 2026) has unlocked motion and potentials in Blockchain and Gaming Landscape for millions of youths and others within Nigeria and Africa in general, building on the Ethereum Enugu (ETH Enugu 2025) precedent.
The experience, prior to its grand finale in Enugu, featured three days of localized workshops, esports competitions and hackathons that engaged over 1,000 participants directly in 16 hubs across eight states in Nigeria, notwithstanding hundreds-of-thousands who joined virtually.
Its finale day featured over 40 leading tech founders, core developers, Game designers/devs, studios and ecosystem architects, who double as mentors, trainers and coaches of young and budding tech-talents, builders and entrepreneurs in the blockchain and gaming ecosystem throughout Africa.
These leading tech founders and talents converged in Enugu having flown in from the United Kingdom, other African countries and Nigerian hubs within Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Kaduna, Delta and all five South-East states in attendance.
Speaking over the weekend in Enugu, Co-convener of the event, Kevin Chibuoyim Okoye, Founder of The Block Hive & GIDA | Ginakev Labs/Foundation, said that the event, which is the biggest Blockchain and gaming event in Africa, featured keynote insights, panel sessions, product spotlight and millions in bounties/giveaways.
Okoye, popularly known as Ezemmuo Blockchain, said that SEBGW 2026 evolved from ETH Enugu 2025 into a massive, interconnected ecosystem — this time bringing gaming and esports directly into the spotlight.
According to him, “we are driven by a core philosophy — that talent is evenly distributed across Africa, but access is not — the mission began with a simple question.”
"How can we bring world-class opportunities directly to where young Africans live, study, and build, rather than waiting for them to find a way out?
"Supported by global corporate titans —including MTN Nigeria, itel Nigeria, and Guinness Nigeria Plc — alongside official government agency alignment through entities like the Enugu SME Agency, the SEBGW2026 movement set out for a powerful precedent.
"A Historic First: Bridging Blockchain and Gaming across Africa with South-East Blockchain & Games Week 2026 (SEBGW 2026) marked the first time in Africa that blockchain and gaming were fused into a single and unified experience.
"By bridging two of the fastest-growing sectors in the digital economy, the event proved that Web3 protocols and gaming cultures are deeply interconnected engines for youth employment, digital ownership, and creative expression," he said.
Okoye revealed it started as a region-wide Tech-innovative movement blueprint in Enugu in 2025 with the
the ETH Enugu 2025 pop up city, builder residency & Ethereum conference, but has now scaled to a multi-region movement, laying the groundwork for a global pan-African footprint in years to come.
He also highlighted the collective effort driving the event, adding that "an event of this scale is never a one-person show — it is the result of relentless dedication from an incredible community.
Okoye said, "I want to deeply appreciate my co-conveners, Leslie Osinachi-Okoh (Darknight) and Emmanuel Ifeanacho (Silver Snow) whose operational leadership kept our momentum strong."
Another Co-convener, Leslie Osinachi-Okoh, who is popularly known as Darknight, said that there was a decentralisation of the movement with 16 Build Stations/hubs across eight states in Nigeria operationalising this vision from Sept. 16 to Sept. 18, 2026.
Osinachi-Okoh noted that Southeast Blockchain and Games Week 2026 bypassed traditional centralised models, adding that instead of requiring thousands of participants to travel long distances, the organizers activated 16 Build Stations across 16 partner hubs in eight states across Nigeria.
He said that each of the eight hubs engaged between 50 to 100 builders, developers, and gamers daily: that’s over 1000 plus participants across the 16 hubs on each day.
He said, "The hubs in the eight states included: Anambra State: Activ8 Hub (Awka), ICE Hub Africa (Nnewi), and IFEXA Grid (Onitsha).
"Enugu State: The Block Hive (Nsukka), Blockchain Hub Africa (Enugu Town), and Enugu SME Agency’s Digital Skills and Enhancement Zone - DSEZ (Enugu Town).
"Ebonyi State: Spella Hub (Abakaliki) and One Youth Global (EBSU Campus); Abia State: Abia Tech Hub (Umuahia) and RAD5 Tech Hub (Aba) and Rivers State: Renaissance Innovation Labs (Ada George, Port Harcourt) and Daimyo Hub (UNIPORT Campus).
"Imo State: Upskill School of Technology at Alvan Ikoku Federal University ICT Center (Owerri), and Corebicle at FUTO; Benue State: U.S. Embassy’s Window on America Space at Rev. Fr. Moses Orshio Adasu University/BSU Main Library (Makurdi); and Delta State: Quru Lab (Agbor)."
Corroborating, Emmanuel Ifeanacho (Silver Snow), said that the event featured keynotes, panel sessions and heavy-hitting presentations from Godson Oronsaye (CEO, Afropanda Gaming) on the future of African esports; Danny Amara (Behind the Buidl) on builder resilience, Sophia Nei (Females in Gaming Network) on closing the gender gap in gaming as well as key addresses by Chinaecherem Felix (NectarFi), Kelvin Makwe (CreatorFi), Vindicated Chidi (AssetChain), and Godspeed Njoku (KompleteCare).
Ifeanacho said that other panel sessions and presentations were “Panel 1 — Web3 Infrastructure & Scaling: Chiemelie Okoye (Airbillspay/Rootwallet), Richard Essangabasi (Shard Network), Kevin Chibuoyim (The Block Hive / GIDA / Ginakev Labs), and Jeremiah Ihejiere (RamperPay) dissected wallet UX, cross-border payments, and blockchain scalability”; “Panel 2 — The African Gaming Ecosystem: Gideon Agbasi (Legacy Gaming), Nonso Okey-Umeh - Sparda (SpardaZone), Elvis Emezi (Scuudu Labs), Joy Okoye (Xend Finance / Hammer Games), and Leslie Osinachi-Okoh (Goondu Games) examined game development, studio publishing, and player economies.
“Panel 3 — Blockchain Engineering & Web3 Adoption: Durojaiye Adebayo (Cryptoevangelist Hub), Justice Eziefule (Metastable Labs), James Chukwu - Rune (Veritysports), David Asamonye (Pandapay / Afropanda Esports), Joshua Nwankwo - Judicodes (Letsdap), and Testimony - Daddy Muphasa (Papagedon) shared insights on smart contracts, sports tech, and decentralised applications.
“Panel 4 — Creators & Build Station Partners: Chika Sophia Ojii (Enugu SME Agency), Isaac (ICE Hub Africa), and Emmanuel Ifeanacho - Silver Snow (SEBGW2026 Co-convener) evaluated Telling the story across creatives, community, and grassroots impact of regional tech hubs.
“Ecosystem Product Showcases: Live product breakdowns were delivered by partners with emerging products and sponsors, including Fundable Finance (Abubakar Babatunde Lawal), The Block Hive x MTN Partnership (Samson Damian), Afropanda Esports (David Asamonye), Jumpa (Ismael), Goondu Games (Sophia Abubakar), Turing Blockchain - TBC (Adebayo Durojaiye), and Danfo Hustle (Solomon).”
Over ₦2.5 million give-aways were unlocked in bounties and competitions as well as cash prizes and hackathon grants to ensure creators, developers, and gamers had direct pathways to earn and get encouraged.
Developer & Web3 Hackathons: $500 Powered by Pollar for smart contract engineers. While for Written Content and Essays: $200 Powered by Boundless for tech writers.
Audio Storytelling and Podcasting: ₦250,000 Powered by Jamit for audio creators and listeners. While Video Content Creation: ₦150,000 Powered by RamperPay for video editors and bloggers.
4 Flagship Esports Tournaments:eFootball: ₦800,000 Powered by itel x Afropanda Esports. While for EA Sports FC: ₦200,000 Powered by Yelobyte Esports.
Call of Duty Mobile (CODM): ₦100,000 Powered by CODEN. While for Mortal Kombat (All-Female Tournament): ₦50,000 Powered by Females in Gaming Network (FIGN).
Over 1500 tech-innovators were present at the finale of South-East Blockchain and Games Week (SEBGW 2026, which is an indication of the huge success of the event.
Also, by taking build stations directly into eight states, the conveners proved that distance is no longer a barrier to participating in the global digital economy especially within Africa.
Having tested and perfected the multi-hub model in Nigeria, it would be logical taking the next step to replicate it in the entire Africa continent.
Moving forward into next year, the conveners are championing the push for the event to evolve and be done on a bigger scale — Africa-wide scale - bringing Web3, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Gaming into the continent's premier frontier technology gathering.
Sponsorship and Ecosystem Coalition for SEBGW2026 was made possible through the backing of key industry partners: MTN Nigeria, The Block Hive, itel Nigeria, Afropanda Esports, Goondu Games, Ginakev Labs, Toon Central, Yelobyte Studio, Guinness Nigeria Plc, CODEN, Jamit HQ, and Crypto Evangelist Hub.
Others are: Enugu SME Agency, Boundless, Fundable Finance, RamperPay, Females in Gaming Network (FIGN), Danfo Hustle, Jumpa, Turing Blockchain (TBC), Sparda Zone, ETH Enugu, and Pollar.
The conveners also appreciated volunteers especially the Volunteer Lead, Marietta, who spearheaded an unprecedented logistical feat; coordinating over 160 volunteers across 16 build stations —maintaining at least 10 dedicated volunteers per station as well as an additional over 50 volunteers on the main event in Enugu.