Moore Dagogo-Hart, a luminary in the cryptotechnology world, serves as the co-founder and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Zap Africa. His visionary leadership has been instrumental in establishing Nigeria’s groundbreaking non-custodial cryptocurrency exchange, Zap, which has rapidly ascended to the forefront of Nigeria’s crypto landscape. His story is one of a restless mind given to dreaming, crafting, and ultimately transforming those dreams into reality.
The Early Genius
Even before launching Zap Africa, Moore was renowned for his ability to architect innovative technologies. Ever wondered what it feels like to wield magic? For Moore, technology is precisely that—binding spells of code that can transmute economic landscapes, demolish barriers, and spawn new wealth opportunities. Perhaps this belief was sown in him during his childhood, an era marked by an insatiable curiosity to dismantle and reassemble the systems around him.
At the tender age of 18, Moore constructed an unforgettable mobile game, Color Match, which soared to the #2 spot on the Play Store and #4 on the App Store. Fast-forward a few years to 2020: he developed an AI-driven model to unmask sexual predators lurking within digital chat spaces. His achievements could fill a trophy case—placing 3rd at Facebook’s #Hackathon4Justice in 2019 and seizing the top spot at Goldman Sachs’ University Hackathon in 2020.
From Goldman Sachs to Building Africa’s Future
2021 marked the official commencement of Moore’s career at Goldman Sachs. Here, he immersed himself in crafting robust financial security systems, mastering the delicate dance of high-risk modeling within fast-paced, high-stakes environments. But every entanglement with established pathways left him yearning for something more—something uniquely his. It wasn’t long before he heeded this internal call; he packed his bags and left in pursuit of unfamiliar horizons.
Shortly thereafter, Moore co-founded Solarsoft, where he birthed Nebula, Africa’s first fully operational NFT wallet. The venture proved foundational for digital asset engagement in the region, despite its eventual removal from the App Store due to strict Apple regulations. Was it a setback or a valued lesson? For Moore, it was unequivocally the latter—proof that the decentralized frontier harbors as many challenges as it does possibilities.
The Birth of Zap Africa: Africa’s First Non-Custodial Crypto Platform
It was the year 2022—a time when many Nigerian crypto enterprises tottered on the brink of collapse. A specter of mistrust loomed in the air. Drawing from their shared vision, Moore and his childhood ally, Tobiloba Asu-Johnson, nurtured the seeds of Zap Africa. Watching their compatriots lose savings to unpredictable markets, they realized the need for a secure, trustworthy solution. The result: Zap Africa, Nigeria’s fastest-growing crypto platform, which astonishingly processed ₦2 billion in transactions within only three months of its inception.
Moore adeptly configured Zap’s financial model to automate revenue generation, fine-tune liquidity management, and craft a scalable architecture capable of seamless transaction handling. In layman’s terms, Moore engineered a self-sustaining financial ecosystem. Notably, the $TRUMP coin marketing initiative marked a pivotal high, attracting an influx of 10,000 users in a mere six hours.
But Moore’s aspirations extend far beyond Nigerian borders. His ambition is to revamp Africa’s financial framework, ushering in an era where wealth, decentralized finance, and unfettered transactions become the norm rather than the exception.
Beyond Crypto: Engineering Africa’s Tech Future
A polymath at heart, Moore diversified his pursuits in 2022 by establishing Syx Labs—an avant-garde tech entity devoted to tackling intricate challenges spanning artificial intelligence, blockchain, and fintech domains. Syx Labs endeavors to be much more than a mere software firm—it aspires to be a catalyst for Africa’s technological renaissance.
With a specialization in AI-fueled financial models and blockchain-based authentication frameworks, they depict themselves as the “next-gen real estate and fintech platform tailor-made for African markets.” This congruence of audacity and ingenuity perhaps elucidates the lab’s overarching mission: to redefine technological paradigms whilst addressing the continent’s distinct challenges.
Zap into the Future
At its heart, Zap’s mission resounds with clarity: make wealth creation an inclusive journey and dissolve the confines of border-based transactions. As a young boy, Moore observed Africa’s economic constraints firsthand, but he also discerned the boundless potential simmering beneath the surface. Now, as a seasoned innovator, he’s poised to bridge these gaps and catalyze authentic economic autonomy across the continent.
Ironically, Zap does not require validation from traditional gatekeepers. It is an entity that challenges, constructs, and ultimately embodies the paradigms of a futuristic world—now, not later.
“We’re not waiting for change. We’re building it.” – Moore Dagogo-Hart
Edited By Ali Musa Axadle Times international–Monitoring
