The Africa’s Talking Open Hackathon: Fintech Solutions is an exciting opportunity for innovators to come together and shape the future of financial technology in Africa. This event invites developers, designers, entrepreneurs, and fintech enthusiasts to collaborate on creating solutions that address critical challenges in the financial sector. By leveraging Africa’s Talking APIs and tools, participants will have the resources to build transformative applications that can drive financial inclusion and economic growth across the continent.

Addressable Problems in Fintech

1. Payment Accessibility and Integration  Despite advancements in digital payments, many Africans still face challenges accessing secure and affordable payment options. Participants are encouraged to develop solutions that simplify payment processes, enable cross-platform integration, and enhance the overall user experience for both consumers and businesses.
2. Financial Inclusion and Unbanked Populations Millions of people across Africa remain unbanked or underbanked, limiting their access to financial services. Addressing this gap through innovative solutions can empower more people to participate in the economy. Ideas could include mobile banking applications, digital wallets, and credit scoring algorithms that enable alternative ways to assess creditworthiness.
3. Peer-to-Peer Lending and Microfinance Solutions Small businesses and individuals often face difficulties accessing loans due to limited credit history or lack of collateral. Participants can explore peer-to-peer lending platforms, microfinance solutions, and other alternative lending models that provide more inclusive and equitable access to credit.
4. Cross-Border Transactions and Remittances Cross-border payments remain complex and costly, especially when transferring funds between countries. The hackathon will challenge participants to find ways to reduce transaction costs, increase the speed of remittances, and make cross-border payments more accessible for businesses and individuals.
5. Fraud Prevention and Financial Security As digital transactions increase, so does the risk of fraud and cybercrime. Participants can focus on creating tools that enhance transaction security, detect fraudulent activity in real-time, and protect user data.
6. Financial Literacy and User Education Lack of financial literacy is a significant barrier to adopting fintech solutions. Teams can build platforms that educate users on financial management, investment opportunities, and budgeting tools to empower more informed financial decision-making.

Objectives

• Drive Innovation: Foster the development of new, disruptive fintech solutions tailored to Africa’s unique challenges.
• Boost Financial Inclusion: Create digital solutions that extend financial services to underserved populations, reducing the number of unbanked individuals.
• Encourage Collaboration: Provide a platform for cross-disciplinary teams to work together and share ideas, with support from Africa’s Talking.
• Promote Sustainable Development: Build solutions that contribute to long-term economic growth and digital transformation across the continent.
• Showcase Talent: Offer a space for participants to demonstrate their skills, network with industry professionals, and gain visibility.

Target Attendees

• Developers and Software Engineers: Individuals who can bring technical expertise in building functional fintech applications using Africa’s Talking APIs.
• Entrepreneurs and Startups: Innovators with a passion for creating new fintech businesses or integrating digital solutions into existing financial services.
• Designers and UX Experts: Creative thinkers who can craft user-centric fintech solutions with compelling interfaces.
• Data Scientists and AI/ML Enthusiasts: Specialists who can leverage data analytics and machine learning to develop smart financial services, such as predictive modeling and fraud detection.
• Fintech Enthusiasts and Professionals: Those looking to contribute to the digital transformation of Africa’s financial sector.

Why Participate?

• Access to Africa’s Talking APIs: Utilize powerful APIs for SMS, Voice, Payments, and more to build innovative fintech solutions.
• Apprenticeship: Get guidance from fintech experts, Africa’s Talking engineers, and industry mentors.
• Networking Opportunities: Connect with like-minded innovators, industry professionals, and potential investors.
• Exciting Prizes: Compete for cash rewards
• Impact and Recognition: Build a solution that can make a real difference in people’s lives and get recognized in the fintech community.

New to Africa's Talking? Get started here.

Developer Documentation (We welcome feedback)

THEME: Fintech Solutions

The winning solution will receive cash prizes as follows:

• Winner - $100
• 1st Runners Up - $50
• 2nd Runners Up - $25

Social Media give-aways $5 every hour!

More exclusive prizes and giveaways to attendees.

Contribute to open-source.

Agenda:

1. Introductions

• Introductions
• Form teams where need be.
• Feedback
• Feature requests

2. Overview

• Technical hands-on session

3. Ideation

• Form teams where need be.
• Feedback

4. Building/hacking: Code in GitHub/GitLab/BitBucket and deploy in Docker/Automated CI/Travis CI/Bamboo

5. Demonstration and Wrap-up

• Teams or individuals will demonstrate what they have hacked for feedback or adoption.

Note: Carry a laptop

Opportunities:

• Network
• Innovate
• Access to our Talent bench (You can get a job or a gig on the spot)

Submit your Idea:

• Hackathon idea submission form

Join community channels:

Slack & WhatsApp:

• Join Africa's Talking slack community here

Join our social media channels:

• Linkedin: here
• Twitter (X): here
• Facebook: here
• Youtube: here
• Instagram: here
• Tiktok: here

Africa's Talking powers communications solutions across Africa with simplified access to telco infrastructure, developers use our powerful SMS, USSD, Voice, Airtime, Mobile Data, Insights and Chat APIs to bring their ideas to life, as they build and sustain scalable businesses.

Africa's Talking community allows developers to learn skills for the modern-day African Developer. We are language and framework agnostic. All developers are welcome. This is where Africa's Talking developers community meets to build, learn and exchange knowledge.

We are helping software developers and businesses to bring their ideas to life through easy-to-use APIs quickly.

Transport:

• We will provide transport to and from Jeevanjee Gardens.
• Note that Jeevanjee Garden Departure time is 7:45 AM (kindly be on time).

Would you like to partner with us? Kindly contact the Developer Experience Team.