The fifth Ecobank Fintech Challenge has been launched by pan-African banking group Ecobank Group, which invites African Fintech business owners to participate.
A top reward of $50,000 in cash and the ability to partner with and scale their solutions throughout Ecobank’s 33 African markets are up for grabs for fintechs that are in line with the bank’s strategic goals.
The Group’s Corporate Communications said as much in a statement on Friday.
You can enter the Fintech Challenge by going to the website.
Eligible participants include global Fintechs with an emphasis on Africa and Fintech companies and developers from any of the 54 countries in the continent.
Applications are accepted through September 16, 2022. Following the finals and awards ceremony in October 2022, ten finalists will be welcomed into the Ecobank Fintech Fellowship.
All fellows will also be eligible to explore the following possibilities with the Bank and its associates: “Multinational products roll out: an opportunity to seek integration with Ecobank and maybe launch products in all or a portion of Ecobank’s pan-African ecosystem of 33 countries.
“Service provider partnerships: Within the Bank’s ecosystem, Ecobank may choose some Fintechs as pan-African service partners.
Fellows will have access to Ecobank’s APIs to test and refine their products for the pan-African market. Access to Ecobank’s Pan-African Banking Sandbox
Priority Access to Venture Capital Partners of Ecobank for Financing Exploration.
“Ecobank believes that the best way to modernize financial services in Africa is for Pan-African banks like Ecobank to continuously encourage and engage with innovative Fintechs and start-ups,” said Ade Ayeyemi, Chief Executive Officer of Ecobank Group.
The greatest fintech companies in Africa are invited and welcomed to collaborate with us on the 2022 Challenge.
Dr. Tomisin Fashina, Operations and Technology Executive, Ecobank Group, stated: “The Challenge is unusual in that it invites both mature start-up Fintechs and those in the early stages.
And works to match them with various Ecobank partnership options that are appropriate for their varying stages of maturity.
The Ecobank Fintech Challenge is supported by partners in Africa and around the world. It was developed in collaboration with an international advisory firm, Konfidants.
Earlier records show 46 persons have been admitted into the Ecobank Fintech Fellowship program in 2017 when it started.