Sarah Idahosa on bridging Web3 gender gap and scaling stablecoin payments for Africa

Sarah Idahosa founded Women In DeFi, a pan‑African non‑profit that has educated over 8,000 women in blockchain and decentralised finance since 2022. She also serves as Africa Partnerships and Sales Lead at MANSA, a stablecoin liquidity provider backed by Tether, working to make cross‑border payments cheaper and faster for emerging markets. Idahosa entered Web3 during the Covid‑19 pandemic through an affiliate marketing gig that paid her in Ethereum, a route she says was driven by the need to earn cash while staying home. She explains that selling Web3 to skeptics is hard because many were introduced to crypto as a get‑rich‑quick scheme between 2018 and 2020, leading to losses and distrust; now she focuses on real‑world solutions rather than jargon. The biggest misconceptions about DeFi in Africa are that the continent is merely a consumer market too behind to participate and that Web3 is only for those with money to invest—both false, as active builders and users already exist, especially in payments. Idahosa stresses that bringing more women into Web3 is a chance to rewrite historical exclusion from tech, finance, and credit access, turning the 8,000‑strong community into active participants rather than bystanders. MANSA’s stablecoin infrastructure is already being integrated by traditional payment processors, enabling seamless China‑Africa trade for SMEs, though scaling faces regulatory hurdles, local liquidity limits, and off‑ramp gaps. For readers interested in the Web3 space, her story highlights opportunities in education, partnerships, and practical payment solutions that address real African needs.

SOURCE: https://techcabal.com/2026/06/26/quick-fire-%f0%9f%94%a5-with-sarah-idahosa/