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An African lover judging ETHAccra: Santiago.

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Executive producer: C.Y. Lee

To quote this piece: Santiago, “An African lover judging ETHAccra: Santiago,” We Them Media, https://wethem.xyz/watch/an-african-lover-judging-ethaccra-santiago-accra. Each transcript line links to its second.

ETHAccra, Accra, and a judge from a long way away. “my name is Santiago, I’m from Colombia and I’m an African lover.” The interviewer says he has been everywhere, and the list backs it up: in Nigeria, “I was visiting the different hubs that you have in JOS, Kaduna,” Abuja, Lagos. In Ghana, “it’s always amazing to come here to the University of Ghana to interact with all the people and even more amazing to see how the people are increasing the projects and the teams from last year as well.”

His own role changed between editions: “last year I was part of the sponsors. I was doing workshops,” and “this year I was a judge and I was helping people and giving feedback.” The scale of it: “There were more like 60, 70 projects.”

Where he says the value actually is has nothing to do with judging. “That’s how, that’s actually where I found the most value, talking to people one-on-one in 10, 15 minutes, 20 minutes.” And the reason he keeps coming back is that he can measure it: “this year coming and seeing the growth of a lot of people, that’s what made me feel really happy and made me feel that what I have been doing personally is actually working.” He is also, by the channel’s own count, the only person in the ETHAccra set who spelled booyah correctly. The transcript below is from the original audio.

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Who speaks, by their own introduction on the tape: Santiago at 0:13. Transcribed from the original audio and corrected for names. Search every transcript

These are the speaker’s own words. We have not checked their claims.

0:00A: You don’t need introductions. Yeah, we are with the Tiger Lord of Africa. He, he, he’s super amazing. Like, I mean, I’m not, I’m not a builder actually, but what, what this guy is doing in the space, you know, I don’t want to say too much. Yeah, please, what’s your name?

0:13Santiago: Hi everyone, my name is Santiago. I’m from Colombia and I’m an African lover.

0:17A: African lover. He’s been everywhere traveling around, but he likes playing with Python. I don’t know why. So how have you experienced being in the space so far?

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0:27Santiago: In Accra?

0:27A: Yeah, generally.

0:29Santiago: Yeah. Generally amazing. I really love everything that I have been doing in Nigeria. I was visiting the different hubs that you have in Jos, Kaduna, Abuja, Enugu, Lagos, and Web2Bridge as well. In Accra, it’s always amazing to come here to, to the University of Ghana to interact with all the people, and even more amazing to see how the people are increasing the, the projects and, and the teams from last year as well.

0:52A: Thank you for that. He’s actually building, trying to help push the adoption in Africa. But did you actually imagine that he mentioned a lot of states in Nigeria? Bro, I don’t even know, but I’m African. How you gonna do it? So Santiago, how has EthAccra this year been comparing to other years?

1:08Santiago: Um, so I really like all the results of this year. I was actually -- last year I was part of the sponsors. I was doing workshops and I was hacking with people. I was helping them. But then this year I was a judge and I was helping people and giving feedback. Okay. This year I saw a lot of projects. There were more like 60, 70 projects, something like that, which is amazing for the quantity and, and all the people here in Ghana. Um, the best thing about, about Ghana is how you see Idakra is the main gathering event for everyone all over West Africa. People coming from Togo, people coming from Lagos, people coming from all over Ghana, people coming from Nigeria as well.

1:46A: Yeah.

1:46Santiago: So, so yeah, that’s my favorite part about, about Idakra and Also, I really enjoy having one-on-ones with all the developers, all the founders, all the not-tech people. That’s how, that’s actually where I found the most value, talking to people one-on-one, 10, 15 minutes, 20 minutes. Maybe you tell me something that I learned. Maybe I give you feedback that changes your life, that pivots your product.

2:07A: Changed my life. You know that part.

2:09Santiago: That’s, and then I asked, I’m saying this based on feedback from last year. Last year I was doing the same, having some conversations.

2:14A: Yeah.

2:15Santiago: And then this year coming and seeing the growth of A lot of people. That’s that’s what makes me feel really happy and and makes me feel that what I have been doing personally is actually working and creating impact in the continent.

2:26A: So network, network. All right, so spell Booyah.

2:31Santiago: B O O Y A H.

2:35A: Okay, let’s leave time to the audience. All right, so the next one is yeah your name. No no no questions are done. Your name, what you do. You are live at Ida Cry with We Them Media. Booyah!

2:49Santiago: I’m Santiago, the global developer advocate for Lisk, and I’m live on Ida Cry with We Them Media. Booyah! Booyah! Booyah!

That was the whole tape.

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