The Ecobank Fintech Challenge 2020 is open to all fintech companies on the African continent.
Ecobank, one of Africa’s leading commercial banks, is championing this initiative with the aim to spot and partner fintechs that are ready to scale.
The bank says selected participants will gain access to Ecobank’s 33 African markets “so they can develop to be true Pan African Fintech success stories”.
Ecobank Fintech Challenge 2020 finalists will be introduced to the Ecobank Fintech Fellowship, which accords them the opportunity to explore deals, integration and commercial partnership with the Ecobank Group.
Interested Fintechs can give it a try by sending details of their product as well as a demo.
Benefits
These products must address one or more of the following set of pain points:
Multinational Product Roll-Out
This is a lifetime opportunity to seek integration with Ecobank and potentially launch products in Ecobank’s over 30 markets across Africa.
Competition Cash Prizes
The top three winners get $10,000, $7000, and $5000 cash prizes respectively.
Service Provider Partnerships
Ecobank may name a start-up as a local country-level partner in any of Ecobank’s 33 country ecosystem
Access To Ecobank’s Pan-African Banking Sandbox
Fellows will be granted access to Ecobank’s APIs to assess and improve their products for the pan-African market
Mentoring And Networking Support
Each founder will be initiated as one of Ecobank Fintech Fellows. This will give them access to networking and mentoring opportunities within the Ecobank Group and its broad network of global and African partners.
Integration With Existing Ecobank Digital Offerings
The Challenge gives opportunities for Fintechs to potentially incorporate with Ecobank’s existing digital offerings. The existing digital offerings include Ecobank Omni, Ecobank electronic financial supply chain (eFSC), Ecobank Xpress, Ecobank Mobile APP or USSD, MasterPass™ QR, mVISA™ & mCash, etc. The applicants to pitch on how their solutions can add value to these existing Ecobank digital offerings.
Timeline
The program is designed to be a mix of virtual and physical engagements.
April 12, 2020: Application portal closes
May 2020: Get shortlisted
June 2020: Finalists shortlisted
How to apply
Startups can apply via the application portal from now till Saturday, March 14, 2020.
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