20 teams nominated for 2022 Women in Fintech Hackathon
At least 20 women-led teams have been nominated for the 2022 Women in Fintech Hackathon expected to be held between September 10 and 15 in Kampala.
The shortlisted teams are expected to help last mile financial inclusion through ideation and development of financial technology products in areas such as Agri-tech, e-commerce, payments, savings and loans, edu-tech and fundraising.
Charlotte Neeza, event manager for HiPipo Fintechs, said ahead of the hackathon that the 20 teams are shortlisted from more than 50 entries.
– The teams on the list come from all over the region, including a team from Rwanda and Tanzania. Other teams travel from as far as Kisoro,” she said, noting that this was a clear indication that the project has continued to grow and is attracting more quality.
She also noted that they had held pre-hackathon discussions with all team leaders, which confirmed that they were ready to innovate and transform their communities.
“This announcement sets the scene and sets the hackathon wheels in motion. On our end, we are ready to welcome all participants starting Saturday. Those traveling from afar must arrive on Friday,” she added.
Now in its third edition, the Women in Fintech Hackathon is part of HiPipo’s commitment to empowering women with necessary digital and financial inclusion skills.
It also seeks to increase innovation, prosperity and uplifting livelihoods, particularly among women, as well as close the gender gap in access to technology, skills and use of digital financial services.
It will provide female innovators and students with an opportunity to use digital finance technology to explore business concepts and will also introduce participants to useful tools and offer an introduction to technologies such as Mojaloop Open-Source Software and guidance from Level One Project foundational material.
The skills will cover Level One Project Principles, Instant and Inclusive Payment Systems (IIPS), Inclusive Finance and FinTech in general.
“Our ultimate goal is to help achieve a level playing field by guiding Africa to fully maximize its digital benefits and potential, with all populations equitably participating in the use, exploitation, dissemination, innovation, adoption and adaptation of secure digital financial services to improve their lives and livelihoods,” said Innocent Kawooya, CEO of HiPipo.
The Women in Fintech Hackathon will culminate in the Women in Fintech Summit on Friday 16 September, where the best performing teams and individuals from across East Africa will be announced and awarded a share of the total prize money of $10,000.
The best teams will also automatically qualify for the Women in finTech Incubator program which runs until January 2023.
