RiseUp has joined forces with the International Telecommunications Union to promote and develop financial inclusion in Egypt by organizing the FIGI Hackathon, the MENA region’s first digital financial inclusion tech competition.
The FIGI Hackathon will take place 21-22 of January 2019 at the Royal Maxim Palace Kempinski in New Cairo, Egypt. This tech competition is part of the second edition of the FIGI Symposium (and the first in the Middle East) which is also organized by the World Bank Group and the Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures with the support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and is hosted by the National Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (NTRA) of Egypt.
The FIGI Hackathon challenge is to design and create an App or digital solution that enables financial inclusion with open and common APIs for merchant payments. 1.7 billion adults around the world are still without access to a bank account, but among them, 1.1 billion have a mobile phone. Innovation to expand financial inclusion is the focus of the Financial Inclusion Global Initiative (FIGI) Hackathon & Symposium. Egypt is one of three ‘model’ developing countries, alongside China and Mexico, receiving technical assistance from the FIGI community in the introduction of policy reforms to stimulate digital financial inclusion.
The top team will receive 6,000 USD and the 2nd and 3rd placed teams will receive 3,000 USD and 2,000 USD respectively. All participants will get to meet potential investors and showcase their innovations, while they help improve the financial lives of millions of small merchants around the world. Outstanding solutions will be taken forward by the FIGI community, a diverse set of decision-makers in the public and private sector.
15 teams of 3-5 participants will be accepted to participate in the FIGI Hackathon. Teams must be all 18+ years old, include at least 1 coder/developer to produce the digital solution (App), and have basic understanding of finance/financial inclusion.
To apply, visit the FIGI Hackathon website or visit the Facebook event page.