The Ecobank Fintech Challenge identifies and partners with Fintechs that are ready to scale and provides them with support and access to opportunities in Ecobank’s 35 African markets. The goal is to contribute to their growth as potential Pan African Fintech success stories.
The Ecobank Fintech Challenge is a Pan-African innovation competition powered by Ecobank Transnational Incorporated. It is designed to identify, support, and partner with impressive African Fintechs to grow and scale their Fintech innovations across the African continent and globally. The fundamental value offerings of the challenge are market access, visibility, and cash prizes.
Solutions submitted to the Challenge must address at least one of the following pain points:
Customer experience
- Improvement of customer experience both online and at physical branches
- Digital solutions using analytics/customer insights and AI to offer tailored adverts
- Acceleration of the resolution process
- Digitization of customer journey
Credit Scoring
- Provision of credit
- KYC
- Digitization of credit history evaluation
- Credit utilization ratio evaluation
Ecosystem aggregation
- SME/Merchants onboarding and payment integration
- Niche merchant aggregation through tailored solutions per sector
- Facilitate mobile collections for merchants that enable synchronization and consolidation with our Xpress point system
Financial Inclusion
- Digital customer onboarding (Consumers, SME/Merchant, Investment Banking)
- Seamless access to Ecobank services for non-smartphone users
- Affordability of financial services to the unbanked and underbanked
Internal tools
- Digital solutions which improve sales force performance
- Digital solutions which improve sales performance
- Agency banking solutions that broaden our scope of services
- Risk management, cheque fraud prevention, and cybersecurity strategies
Payments
- Offline mobile-to-mobile payments (Dead Zones)
- Increasing our payment wallet size within the African context
- Automate nearly every payables process
And also, any other relevant product categories.
Ecobank, whose official name is Ecobank Transnational Inc. (ETI), is a pan-African banking conglomerate, with banking operations in 33 African countries. It also maintains subsidiaries in Eastern and Southern Africa. ETI has an affiliate in France, and representative offices in China, Dubai, South Africa, and the United Kingdom.
Benefits
- The ultimate winner will be awarded a cash prize of $50,000, while the 1st and 2nd runners-up will also win cash prizes.
- Opportunity to pursue integration with Ecobank and potentially launch the product in Ecobank’s 35 markets across Africa.
- Finalists with impressive products may be selected as country-level partners to local Ecobank affiliates within Ecobank’s 35-country footprint.
- Fellows will be given access to a dedicated team to support Ecobank’s API tests to enable them to improve their products for the pan-African market and globally.
- All Finalists will be inducted as Ecobank Fintech Fellows, granting them access and relationships to a vast network of global and African accelerators, potential Investors, mentors, and the Ecobank non-bank clients’ ecosystem for potential partnerships.
- Opportunities to potentially integrate with Ecobank’s existing digital offerings.
Eligibilities
- All Fintechs with relevant financial products for Africa are eligible to apply to the Ecobank Fintech Challenge.
Application Process
- Applications have to be made through Younoodle online platform.
- Applicants will have to create an account on Younoodle and log in to apply. (Available on the apply link)
- After login, applicants will have to make to complete the application.
Note:
- Applications can be submitted in either English or French.
Application Deadline: July 21, 2023
Application ClosedOfficial link
