Financial Services Innovators (FSI), a non-profit organization helping tech and finance start-ups, has planned a hackathon towards achieving the targets of the National Financial Inclusion Strategy (NFIS).
The firm is working with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Flourish Ventures, AXA Mansard, and Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System Plc (NIBSS) for the hackathon themed: ‘Financial Inclusion for All’ which will hold during the Nigeria Association of Computing Students (NACOS) innovation and software summit in Abeokuta, Ogun State from August 16-18, 2022.
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A webinar has been held with students of 30 tertiary institutions nationwide ahead of the summit with the hackathon slated for August 16, featuring teams showcasing their solutions while pitching of Minimum Viable Products (MVPs) will hold on August 18, 2022. Already, over 60 teams have registered for this challenge.
Speaking at the webinar, the Executive Director, FSI, Mrs Aituaz Kola-Oladejo said the financial inclusion hackathons began in October 2021 as a means of discovering tech talents in tertiary institutions, and to change the current narrative in the nation’s digital ecosystem.
“The objectives of this ‘Financial Inclusion for All’ hackathon is to change the lifestyle of Nigerians from cash to cashless transactions, and to encourage seamless conduct of business via digital platforms,” she said.
The Head, Strategy Coordination Office, Financial Inclusion Delivery Unit, CBN, Dr. Paul Oluikpe represented by Mrs Njideka Nwabukwu, identified the impediments of the NFIS targets to include inadequate infrastructure by banks in rural areas, poor mobile telephone network penetration in some parts of the country, and high operational cost by service providers.
