Ecobank targets 50,000 agent banking locations Ecobank Plc is inviting African fintech entrepreneurs to join the fourth edition of the Ecobank Fintech Challenge.
The Fintech Challenge is in line with the bank’s commitment to championing digitisation by giving innovative African startups the opportunity to promote their fintech solutions. The startups can potentially partner with Ecobank to scale their solutions across Ecobank’s 33 African markets as well as its international operations in France.
All selected finalists will be inducted into the Ecobank Fintech Fellowship, following the Finals and Awards ceremony slated for November, 2021. The selected top three winners will receive cash prizes worth $15,000, $12,000 and $10,000, respectively. All fellows will, however, qualify to explore a wide range of opportunities with the bank.
In a press statement made available on the company’s website, the Chief Executive Officer, Ade Ayeyemi, reiterated the bank’s dedication to support innovation across the continent.
“The global impact of COVID-19 has accelerated the dire necessity to digitise and transform banking operations. As a banking group, we are convinced now, more than ever, that innovation and technology are the future of banking and, therefore, reaffirm our continuous commitment to identifying and supporting Africa’s brightest developers to promote their solutions and help improve our services through the Ecobank Fintech Challenge,” said Ayeyemi.
The challenge resulted in a successful launch of the Ecobank Investor App, originally developed by Finance Mobile, a startup from the 2017 Ecobank Fintech fellows.
According to the Operations and Technology Executive, Ecobank Group, Tomisin Fashina, “We are firm believers that Africa’s talent pool is enormous and requires specialised and targeted mentorships to fully crystalise and ready fintech startups for business engagements. Through the Ecobank Fintech Fellowship, we are creating a learning experience through mentorship sessions with in-house, high-level technical teams and with our global partners to help shape and reshape the strategy and focus of African Fintechs.”
Application is opened for entry from all startups and developers across Africa and closes on September 20, 2021.