Three winners have emerged in the Financial Literacy Challenge mobile development competition, sponsored by Visa, the global payments technology company, and delivered by the Co-Creation Hub, Nigeria.
Six finalist teams presented their completed prototypes at a public “Show and Tell” event yesterday (28th July) at the CcHub office in Lagos, and the final three were then selected by a panel of judges comprising representatives from Visa, First Bank of Nigeria, StanbicIBTC, the Development Initiative Network and Enhancing Financial Innovation & Access (EFInA).
Team ‘Money Talks’ won the grand prize of N1,200,000, while Team ‘More Than Money’ and Team ‘Market Trader’ came second and third, winning N960,000 and N800,000 respectively.
The winners were selected based on the quality of the applications presented and their capacity to solve local problems, their relevance to the financial literacy needs of Nigerians, as well as the extent of creativity demonstrated by the developers.
Ade Ashaye, Country Manager for Visa in West Africa, said: “This competition is part of Visa’s strategy to educate Nigerians on financial literacy. We are constantly introducing innovative programmes to better inform consumers on how to manage their money regardless of their cultural standards, educational needs and levels of economic development.”
“We have reached more than 25 million people through financial literacy education worldwide and we intend to double our efforts in the coming years,” Ashaye added.
The first team, who won the grand prize, comprises Peter Ihesie, Dolapo Popoola, Francis Osifo, Emmanuel Itemuagbor, Afolabi Legunsen, Olayinka Tanimomo and Osagie Osemwegie. Their entry, ‘Money Talks,’ is an audio tutorial solution that aims to provide financial information using SMS, voice interactive system and the web.
Another team, comprising Ajibola Aiyedogbon, Ikechukwu Obiakor, Akinsete Sunday, Dapo Olaopa, Sheri Adegbenro, David Umoh and Damilola Adenusi, achieved the second position with their entry, ‘More Than Money,’ a game developed to reinforce students’ money management skills. The game is an adaptation of the Community Game used by Junior Achievement Nigeria in primary schools across Nigeria.
The third prize went to ‘Market Trader,’ a mobile/web based game that teaches kids about how to make smart financial decisions in a fun and engaging way. ‘Market trader,’ was created by Bayo Puddicombe, Olusegun Fasika, Damilola Akinwale, Willie Anniebiet, Kesa Oluwafunmilola and Segun Fodeke.
Once developed further, the winning applications will be available on j2me for basic Nokia and techno phone users, on Blackberry App World and also on Google Play for Android devices.
Ashaye, while congratulating the winners, commended their creativity and brilliance and also thanked the Co-Creation Hub for the seamless delivery of the project so far. “The developers have displayed an impressive desire to excel. These prototypes offer us a glimpse into what they are truly capable of and I look forward to seeing the final products,” Ashaye added.
Bosun Tijani, the CEO of Co-Creation Hub Nigeria, said: “We are really happy at the tools that have come out of the Bootcamp. All the teams applied themselves fully and we see the solutions when launched contributing significantly to improving financial literacy in Nigeria. The CcHub will continue to provide support to the teams to ensure the solutions get into the hands of a significant number of Nigerians”.