In March 2025, during Anita’s third Bitcoin education visit to Zambia, Bitcoin for Fairness supported a small but significant milestone: the country’s first BitDevs meetup.
What began as a single gathering of curious developers has since grown into one of the most active and promising grassroots Bitcoin developer communities in the region. That first meetup did more than introduce technical discussions. It sparked the formation of BitDevs Zambia, a local community focused on learning, building, and contributing to Bitcoin.
Just one year later, the results speak for themselves.
Building Zambia’s Bitcoin Developer Ecosystem
Following the inaugural meetup in March 2025, BitDevs Zambia began hosting regular technical discussions, creating a space for developers to engage deeply with Bitcoin beyond surface-level understanding.
This laid the foundation for more advanced initiatives.
In August 2025, BitDevs Zambia, hosted the first Bitcoin Lightning Developer Bootcamp in the country, run by Africa Free Routing. This was a major step forward, moving from discussion to hands-on building. Developers worked directly with Lightning tools and infrastructure, gaining practical experience in creating real-world solutions.
One of the standout outcomes of the bootcamp was Bit2Kwacha, an instant Bitcoin/Kwacha exchange platform built by one of the participants. The project demonstrated how local developers can create tools tailored to Zambia’s specific financial context.
The momentum has continued beyond the bootcamp. A BitDevs Zambia member, currently participating in Btrust’s Mastering Bitcoin (self-paced), is developing the Sagali Lightning Wallet, which is under active testing. While not yet public, the project reflects a growing shift from learning to building locally relevant Bitcoin tools, with a focus on usability and accessibility.
Expanding Inclusion in Bitcoin Development
In October 2025, BitDevs Zambia hosted a Female Developers Meetup in Lusaka, focused on increasing participation of women in Bitcoin development.
This was not just about representation, but about building technical confidence and creating pathways into the ecosystem for a group often underrepresented in open-source communities.
Global Recognition and Achievements
The impact of the community has extended beyond Zambia. In Q4 2025, more than 50 developer communities worldwide, including BitDevs Zambia, took part in the global Breez Time2Build Challenge. Two BitDevs Zambia members, Victor Chabunda and Mabvuto Banda, were among the winners, highlighting the ability of local developers to compete and innovate on an international stage.
Mabvuto Banda developed an OBS Studio Donations Plugin, enabling Lightning-based donations with send and receive functionality, multi-device synchronization, and on-chain interoperability. Victor Chabunda developed Discourse Breez Tipping, a Lightning plugin that integrates tipping directly into Discourse forums, bringing Bitcoin payments into online community discussions.
The community has also gained formal recognition within the global BitDevs ecosystem, being listed on Btrust’s African BitDevs directory as well as the BitDevs NYC global directory of BitDevs communities.
This ecosystem has also supported the emergence of individual contributors and talents. In early 2026, BitDevs Zambia member Victor Chabunda was awarded a Btrust Developer Grant, marking a significant milestone in his journey of open-source contribution. He is also the author of UniFFI-Dart, a tool that bridges Rust and Dart, making it easier to build cross-platform Bitcoin applications, and a contributor to Rust Payjoin, advancing privacy-focused Bitcoin tools. Find out more about Victor Chabunda’s journey here.
Together, these milestones reflect a growing pipeline: from first meetup, to learning community, to builders shipping real tools, to developers entering global Bitcoin development networks.
Ongoing Learning and Open Source Contribution
BitDevs Zambia members continue to deepen their technical expertise through participation in global programs such as the BOSS Challenge and the Mastering Bitcoin course, both live and self-paced.
The community has also expanded its reach through a new initiative, the Bitcoin OSS Campus Ignition Tour, which introduces university students to Bitcoin development and open-source opportunities.
Within BitDevs Zambia monthly meetups, members also run practical technical demos aimed at strengthening hands-on learning and onboarding new developers into Bitcoin development. These sessions have included:
- Alby Lightning integrations
- Mutinynet and Voltage Lightning wallet creation
- Introduction to tools like Fedi
These efforts are helping bridge the gap between curiosity and contribution, bringing new developers into the Bitcoin ecosystem.
The Role of Early and Ongoing Support
None of this would have been possible without early support. Bitcoin for Fairness played a key role in enabling the first BitDevs Zambia meetup in March 2025, and has continued to support the community by covering venue costs for monthly BitDevs Zambia meetups and supporting the Bitcoin OSS Campus Ignition Tour.
The story of BitDevs Zambia shows what happens when local initiative meets timely support: communities form, skills develop, and solutions emerge that are grounded in local realities. From one meetup to a thriving developer ecosystem, the impact continues to grow.
