Tanzanian startup Nala is the winner of this years’ Ecobank Fintech Challenge. Nala beat ten other finalists to emerge as the overall winner of a US$10,0000 cash prize.
Nala is a mobile money application that works offline, without an internet connection. It provides a unified user experience in which multiple financial services can be connected on one application. It can host multiple SIMs, enabling users to manage their spending and take control of their finances.
Virtual Identity from South Africa and Wallet.ng from Nigeria were the first and second runners-up and took home $7,000 and US$5,000 respectively.
“We are proud of the impressive startups that made it to our 2018 final. They are shining examples of the entrepreneurial spirit and creativity that will propel our continent’s global competitiveness in the commercial services markets, and I sincerely expect some, if not all, of them to be the business titans of tomorrow.’’Ade Ayeyemi, Ecobank Group CEO said.
This year’s Fintech Challenge was keenly contested with applications from over 412 innovative fintech entrepreneurs from across Africa, Europe, North America, and Asia.
All eleven (11) finalists were inducted into the Ecobank Fintech Fellowship, a one-year business program where they can explore opportunities for commercial partnerships with the Ecobank Group, to launch and scale products across Ecobank’s 33 country markets in the continent.
‘’They have my congratulations and we look forward to working closely with all eleven Fellows over the next year to deliver innovative banking services at better price-points that will improve the lives of Africans.” Ade Ayeyemi, added.
Launched in 2017, the second year of the Ecobank Fintech Challenge brought together fintech start-ups and innovators, policymakers, investors and development organizations from across the world to network, witness the 2018 finalists’ exhibitions, and celebrate the induction of the finalists into the 2018 Ecobank Fintech Fellowship.
Winners of the 2018 Ecobank Fintech Challenge were announced at a ceremony held at Ecobank’s (Ecobank.com) headquarters in Lome, Togo on 30th August 2018.
