Our Reporter.

With the 2022 Women in FinTech Hackathon underway, participants are thrilled and full of hope that they will at the end of it be better people; ready to transform the world through financial technology innovations.

They attribute this to the detailed daily program designed by the organizers that mixes learning technology, developing solutions, and improving personal skills.

Winfred Nandawula, the Team Leader of Tawaza Initiative notes that the Hackathon is helping them breakdown huge concepts into realistic and achievable products.

“One of the biggest issues that has been out there is that innovators have so many things that are going on and have a wide scope of things they are dealing in. But today we are here to learn that you can scale down a problem into something narrower and more achievable. Most of the teams are here to win, learn, innovate and solve community problems,” Nandawula noted.

Now in its third edition, the Women in FinTech Hackathon is part of HiPipo’s commitment towards empowering women with the required digital and financial inclusion skills so that they can go out there; innovate, prosper, earn and develop their families and communities.  This year’s edition has gathered 20 Women-led teams of between two to four members each.

Sophie Nabaale, a participant from Team Sueno- Wetase noted that even though she has been at a hackathon before, the Women in FinTech Hackathon is different from the first one she attended as it teaches both innovation and life skills.

“For example, today, we learnt about financial management, which is a key topic for individuals and businesses. We are here to learn all that is there to learn and I expect to win regardless of the tight competition. But even without winning, I am sure that what I will get from here will impact so much on me and my team at large,” Nabaale said.

Day One of the Hackathon saw teams complete their Problem Statements and Business Cases in addition to being introduced to Level One Project principles. They were also mentored on Finance Management by Damali Ssali, the chief programs and projects officer at Private Sector Foundation Uganda, and Personal Growth by Wendy Nanfo, the COO Kuda Bank (Uganda).

Novita Nyirarukundo, a participant from Kisoro District and Team Leader of Land Resources observed that even though this was her first hackathon, the first day surpassed her expectations.

“We have been introduced to the latest financial technology and new ways of innovation. I have been inspired by the different speakers such as Madam Wendy who mentored us on personal growth. I have realized that success and rest do not sleep together. In all, we are learning and competing for the top prize,” she said.

The 2022 Women in FinTech Hackathon seeks to close the Gender Gap in Access to Technology, Skills, and Usage of Digital Financial Services. It will provide women innovators and students an opportunity to use digital financial technology to explore business concepts. The hackathon will 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 gained from this initiative will cover Level One Project Principles, Instant and Inclusive Payment Systems (IIPS), Inclusive Finance, and FinTech in general.

According to Cleopatra Kanyunyuzi, the Project’s Lead Facilitator and also co-founder of Club Tangaza, the Hackathon is key in closing the gender diversity gap that is currently experienced in the technology industry.

“Technology has been around but it is a male-dominated space. So when HiPipo comes up with such a project, it is trying to onboard more women in this space. The women that are being trained here will in the future contribute to not only closing the gender gap but also changing their communities. This is a learning vehicle that is enriching the ladies and giving them a push to venture and actively participate in the Financial Technology industry,” Kanyunyuzi explained. 

The week-long Women in FinTech Hackathon will culminate in the Women in FinTech summit on Friday 16^th September at Mestil Hotel, Kampala; where the best performing teams and individuals from across East Africa will be announced and receive their share of the USD 10,000 collective prize money. The best teams will also automatically qualify for the Women in FinTech Incubator program that will run until January 2023.

The Women in FinTech Hackathon, Summit, and Incubator project is presented by HiPipo in partnership with Level One Project, Mojaloop, ModusBox, CyberPLC Academy, and Crosslake Technologies and generously supported by Gates Foundation.

Kampala, Uganda. Following the completion of both entry submission and review process, we are excited to unveil the 20 teams that are going to take part in the 2022 Women in FinTech Hackathon, scheduled for 10^th to 15^th September 2022. The 20 teams have been shortlisted from over 50 submissions received.  

The successful teams will work on FinTech products and solutions in areas such as Agri-Tech, E-Commerce, Payments, Savings and Loans, Edu-Tech, and Fundraising.

“We are happy to introduce this year’s participants. The teams shortlisted come from allover the region including a team from Rwanda and Tanzania. Other teams are traveling from as far as Kisoro. This clearly indicates that the project has continued to grow and is attracting more quality. We have had pre-hackathon discussions with all the team leaders and can confirm that they are all ready to innovate, and transform their communities,” Charlotte Neeza, the HiPipo FinTechs Events Manager explained, she added;

“This announcement sets the stage and puts the Hackathon wheels into motion. On our side, we are set to receive all participants, starting Saturday at 7 am. Those traveling from far are set to arrive on Friday.”  

Now in its third edition, the Women in FinTech Hackathon is part of HiPipo’s commitment towards empowering women with the required digital and financial inclusion skills so that they can go out there; innovate, prosper, earn and develop their families and communities. 

The 2022 Women in FinTech Hackathon seeks to close the Gender Gap in Access to Technology, Skills, and Usage of Digital Financial Services. It will provide women innovators and students an opportunity to use digital financial technology to explore business concepts. The hackathon will 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 gained from this initiative will cover Level One Project Principles, Instant and Inclusive Payment Systems (IIPS), Inclusive Finance, and FinTech in general.

“Our ultimate objective is to help achieve a leveled playing field by guiding the African continent into fully maximizing its digital dividend and potential, with the entire populace equitably participating in the use, leverage, dissemination, innovation, adoption, and adaptation of secure digital financial services to improve their lives and livelihoods,” Innocent Kawooya, the HiPipo CEO noted.

The Women in FinTech Hackathon will culminate into the Women in FinTech summit on Friday 16^th of September, where the best performing teams and individuals from across East Africa will be announced and receive their share of the USD 10,000 collective prize money. The best teams will also automatically qualify for the Women in FinTech Incubator program that will run until January 2023.

The Women in FinTech Hackathon, Summit, and Incubator project is presented by HiPipo in partnership with Level One Project, Mojaloop, ModusBox, CyberPLC Academy, and Crosslake Technologies and generously supported by Gates Foundation.

In case of any queries, reach out via socialweb@HiPipo.com

NO	TEAM NAME	TEAM LEADER
1	HERDUUKA	TABITHA ATWIINE
2	FUNA HOUSE PROPERTY MATERS	KIYIGA MARION OLIVEA
3	TAWAZA DIGITAL VARIETIES	WINFRED NANDAWULA
4	LANDS RESOURCE	NOVITA NYIRARUKUNDO
5	OLIWAA EVENTS	ZAHARA NAMWANJE
6	LIMA PESA	MARIA VIVIAN AWORI
7	JIBU	NAKISOZI MASTULAH SARAH
8	ACADEMIC PERSONAL ASSISTANT (APA)	DIANA NAJJUMA
9	THE PLATTER	NAMULWA PATRA HIGENYI
10	RENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM(RMS)	AMASE STISHA MARGRET
11	SAYL KARE	VICTORIA NAKITTO
12	E-SERVICE	JOSEPHINE NANKUNDA
13	INSURE WALLET	EVELYNE NAKANWAGI
14	THE FINTECH DEVOTEE	TUSIIME EMILY QUEEN
15	TEGEKA INVESTMENT CLUB	SHAMIM NAKAYIZA
16	GO GREEN	MARIAM HAVILLAH MIREMBE
17	AUTOPAY	BETTY HAPPY
18	ELEVATION	RACHEAL IPERU
19	HER ICT SKILLS	MUKAYIRANGA JANE
20	IZERE EDUCATION	SHAMIM NIRERE

Ends.

We are proud to say that the second HiPipo 40 Days 40 FinTechs that ran in the months of July and August, 2021 set the bar very high. Even though it started soon after the partial lifting of the 2021 lockdown, it was tremendously successful.

#40Days40FinTechs has quickly grown into one of the world’s premier showcase events for the innovations that are enabling ever more people to join the digital economy space. That is surely going to remain the case, in large part due to the inspiration and collaboration that our partners; Level One Project, Mojaloop, ModusBox, and Crosslake Technologies generate, but mostly because of the continuing, generous support of the Gates Foundation.

Digital Innovators and FinTechs around East Africa should be more eager to embrace 40 Days 40 FinTechs as Season three will cover physical destinations in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi and Rwanda.

Run under HiPipo’s Include Everyone program that also encompasses other initiatives such as FinTech Landscape Exhibition, Women in FinTech Hackathon, Summit & Incubator and the Digital and Financial Inclusion Summit and Digital Impact Awards Africa; the #40Days40FinTechs platform aptly provides a setting for the various players and stakeholders involved in digital and financial technology to exhibit their products & Services and also share their ideas on how more of us, especially those unserved and underserved by the present financial systems, can be brought into the fold.

The 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative offers participants useful tools and an introduction to industry’s emerging technologies, such as Mojaloop Open Source Software, and guidance from Level One Project foundational material. The skills gained from this initiative cover Level One Project Principles, Instant and Inclusive Payment Systems (IIPS), Inclusive Finance and FinTech in general.

As captured by its name, 40 Days 40 FinTechs always delivers over two months of exhibition, dialogue and discussion, one not seen in the sector before. The initiative continues to generate enormous publicity, demand and pull for instant and inclusive real-time retail payment systems.

Last, but definitely not least, it draws the most attention yet to what is undeniably the future of digital financial services – interoperability.

Several participants are going on to innovate for sectors beyond just the traditional financial services but are making forays into healthcare, education, lending, remittances, agriculture, Robo-advisor, Payments, RegTech, InsurTech, crowdfunding, neo-banking, cryptography, cryptocurrency, Interledger, Blockchain, cross-border payments, retirement schemes and new ways of operating bonds and real estate among others. In their day-to-day operations, they are changing the lives of the likes of rural farmers, women, merchants, small business holders (formal and Informal), and unemployed youth, in a way creating forays for digital youth champions, women and other special interest groups (SIGs).

Not to be overlooked are the various governmental policymakers and regulators who continue to participate in the different discussions and activities we host. It is evident that demand for FinTech, DFS, IIPS, and interoperability has rapidly grown in recent years due to the impact of the broader HiPipo Include Everyone Program.

For the FinTechs, the cost-free exposure aided by the generosity of the Level One Project; an initiative of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s Financial Services for the Poor (FSP) program, which is part of their Global Growth and Opportunity division, is still of immeasurable value.

“As HiPipo, our extensive effort and advocacy is partly for the intention of championing digital innovation and interoperable instant & inclusive payment systems (IIPS) in Africa to a point where our innovators enjoy and achieve sound profit margins to help them keep designing and deploying affordable and inclusive Financial Services for the Poor. It was thus pleasant for us to learn that up to 25 of our season two participants not only continued to enjoy increased client engagement and better bottom lines as a direct result of participating in the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative but are also helping to generate economy-wide efficiencies by digitally connecting millions of low-income consumers that are learning to transact at a fast rate,” Innocent Kawooya, the HiPipo CEO noted.

“But this is just the start, and we acknowledge there is a lot more to do. Season three of 40 Days 40 FinTechs is here, starting mid-2022 with optimism that the initiative will impact even more lives and livelihoods going forward.”

We are alive to the current market realities which continue to inform ours and our partners’ thinking, in regards to ensuring the healthiness and overall safety of participants throughout the different activities. Furthermore, we believe that, just like last year, FinTechs will take up the challenge and use the opportunity to ride the wave of appreciation for cashless payments the pandemic has brought. We need to be prepared with appropriate products and have the appropriate real-time retail payment systems in place to support an inclusive, interoperable digital marketplace that is both thriving and safe.

“It will be exciting to see what the participants have to offer. And again, various stakeholders will be on hand for more discussion and debate, with this time round extra insight from the likes of banks and MNOs. We anticipate extensive discussion on Instant and Inclusive Payment systems, Central Bank Digital Currencies(CBDC), advancing convenience for users, cross-border payments and on micro-lending products (especially those offering facilities to persons and communities that are still on the bylines of finance and trade for example; women, PWDs and other SIGs),” said Innocent Kawooya, the HiPipo CEO.

40 Days 40 FinTechs Initiative is implemented by HiPipo in partnership with Crosslake Technologies, ModusBox, and Mojaloop Foundation, and generously sponsored by the Gates Foundation.

It is ultimately also HiPipo’s hope that more people, from all walks of life, will be drawn to the advocacy for financial inclusion. Together, we will bring the day when it is at 100% ever closer.

Registration is on first-come, first-served basis so qualifying FinTech stakeholders operating in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, and other parts of the continent are encouraged to book their slots before 11^th June 2022.

So see you soon.

SCOPE
Project	Date
40 Days 40 FinTechs	13th June to 30th July 2022
FinTech Landscape Exhibition	11th August to 12th August 2022
Women In FinTech Hackathon	10th to 16th September 2022
Women In FinTech Summit	16th September 2022
Women In FinTech Incubator	26th September 2022 to 6th January 2023
Digital and Financial Inclusion Summit	18th November 2022
Digital Impact Awards Africa	18th November 2022

Ends.

Standard Chartered Bank was yesterday announced the 2021 Digital Brand of the year. To win this Award, Standard Chartered Bank beat competition from Stanbic Bank and Centenary Bank that came second and third respectively. As such, Standard Chartered Bank retained the same prize it won in 2020.

Digital Impact Awards Africa is a platform that promotes Digital Inclusion, Financial Inclusion and Cyber security. Precisely, the Awards seek to recognize, celebrate and appreciate different individuals and organizations that are spearheading the use of digital mediums to better serve their communities.

The 8^th Digital Impact Awards Africa were held on Friday, 10^th December at Mestil Hotel, Kampala as part of this year’s Digital and Financial Inclusion Summit organized by HiPipo and supported by Level One Project, Mojaloop, ModusBox and Crosslake Technologies.

The Digital and Financial Inclusion summit explored the strategic trends and technologies that are shaping the future of Digital, Information Technology and Business with special attention to the safety of customers’ funds and security of platforms in the financial technology industry. The summit discussed at length the disruptive impact of COVID-19 on the general business ecosystem and what players must do to recover.

This year’s summit brought together C-Level executives that are spearheading the introduction, adoption and usage of digital and financial services across Africa. Speakers came from multinationals, large enterprises, small and mid-sized enterprises, start-ups, informal businesses (such as market vendors and smallholder farmers) and sole proprietorships (public transport drivers/riders and e-commerce delivery agents), among others.  

 Below is the full list of winners of the 2021 Digital Impact Awards Africa.

Digital Banking Excellence

1. Standard Chartered Bank (Gold)
   1. Stanbic Bank (Silver)

Banking Innovation Excellence

• CenteOnTheGo | Centenary Bank

Community/MFI Banking Innovation Excellence

• Centenary Bank (Gold)
  • Pride Microfinance (Silver)

FinTech Innovation Excellence

• Digital Ticketing for Transport Services by KaCyber Technologies. (Gold)
  • SafeBoda Business Loans in partnership with Numida. (Silver)

Financial Services Digital Excellence

• Stanbic Bank (Gold)
  • Standard Chartered Bank (Silver)

Consumer Goods Digital Excellence

• Movit Products (Gold)
  • Café Javas (Silver)

Utilities and Government Services Digital Excellence

• NWSC (Gold)
  • URA (Silver)

Technology Services Digital Excellence

• MTN Uganda (Gold)
  • Rocket Health (Silver)

Digital Campaign Excellence

• Stanbic National Schools Championship (Gold)
  • Jumia Anniversary (Silver)

Digital Brand of the Year

• Standard Chartered Bank (Diamond)
  • Stanbic Bank (Gold)
  • Centenary Bank (Silver)

Our Reporter.

The week-long Women in Fintech Hackathon came to an end last Friday with Kuzimba Services, providers of online construction and engineering solutions being declared winners after shrugging off tough competition for the top prize.

Organised by HiPipo in partnership with Crosslake Technologies, ModusBox, Mojaloop and Level One Project, the hackathon that culminated into the Women in Fintech summit, also saw all the teams that made it into the top six rewarded with cash prizes in addition to further three months training –incubation program.

Kuzimba services, whose team leader is Eng. Ephrance Eunice Namugenyi, won the top cash prize of Shs4million in addition to further three month training in different aspects, including business side of technology, product management and marketing. Hack Girls – developers of an interoperable payment platform for NGOs were second while PesaJet – with their digital agriculture platform named Farmore came third.

“What was just an idea has turned out to be real and usable. The hackathon has been hectic but we were up to the task. We knew we had a good product that addresses real community needs but winning the overall product has been a huge surprise,” Eng. Namugenyi told Daily Monitor in an interview after her team scoping the overall prize.

She added:  “With Kuzimba web/mobile app, you can quickly get help on estate/site/home building/construction. We provide online and fast engineering solutions, making purchase of building materials and transportation easy as well as providing access to building experts, carpenters, transportation means, architects, interior designers, cleaners and engineers.”

The Women in Fintech hackathon had 16 teams that were women led and women dominated with each team having between two to four members, majority of whom under the age of 30 years. The hackathon introduced the participants to new and emerging tools and technologies that are available to help them create inclusive and instant payment solutions that can ably serve people at the bottom of the pyramid.

Trials and Tribulations.

Although HiPipo and partners, including Crosslake Technologies, ModusBox, Mojaloop and Level One Project, are looking at empowering more women in the technology space, particular in areas of developing innovative and interoperable technologic solutions, there are still numerous barriers hindering women participation in Fintech and technology as a whole.

Discussing challenges and way forward at the Women in Fintech Summit, Founder and Author of Ideation Corner, Ms Damali Ssali noted that cost of both internet and digital transaction remains way beyond what many women, including those in Micro, Small and Medium enterprises can afford. And this explains why only just about 10 per cent of money is being exchanged digitally in Uganda.

As for Ms Doreen Lukandwa, the Vice President Global Enterprises at MFS Africa/Beyonic, women need to be allowed to be revolutionaries as it is through this freedom to invert and innovate that they can eventually develop products that empower them to be better across the economic sectors.       

Offer support.

Nonetheless, Innocent Kawooya, the HiPipo CEO noted that even amidst several challenges, stakeholders both government and private must continue to empower and encourage more women participation in technology at all stages as this is one of the surest ways of closing the gender diversity gap in the technology space.

“Our intention and that of our partners is to ensure that the technological gender gap is closed. Platforms like the Women in FinTech hackathon and summit are just one example of what we are doing to empower women,” Innocent Kawooya said.

 He continued: “We want to see more women in the digital innovation space, support them to not just understand but also innovate digitally. We will also continue working towards inclusive digital solutions as well as creating technologies that support and help populations at the bottom of the pyramid get financially included.”

Additionally, Hon David Karubanga, the HiPipo Patron and MP for Kigorobya County noted that the government of Uganda is committed to enhancing financial inclusion and women empowerment.

He promised to work with HiPipo to present all the sixteen teams’ ideas to the Ministry of ICT and deliberate on how they can be further helped.

Top Six Teams.

1. Kuzimba Online Services – Online Supermarket for Construction and Engineering.

2. Hack Girls – An interoperable finance management solution to enable NGOs and other organisations disburse bulk transactions to final beneficiaries.

3. PesaJet (Farmore) – A digital platform for smallholder farmers offering garden inputs, markets, savings and loans.

4. Green Shares – Digital Payments for fmallholder Farmers

5. Mpa Mpe – A fundraising platform for young entrepreneurs and their businesses.

6. Farmers Financial Development Avenue (FFDA) – A solution that connects farmers to banks, helping them have easy access to credit services.

Ends.