Dipo Olowookere
By Dipo Olowookere
An opportunity has opened for financial journalists in Nigeria to win millions of Naira in the OnePipe Writing Challenge, which kicked off on Friday, February 25, 2022.
A statement issued by the foremost fintech API company disclosed that entries for the eight-week contest will close on April 14, 2022, with the three first-place winners getting N1 million each.
The winning entries must have successfully met the key guidelines like information sharing, idea definition, trend analysis and definition of concepts.
It was stated that the writing challenge will be judged by a panel of an expert in financial inclusion policy and digital money like Professor Olayinka David-West, Associate Dean, Lagos Business School; Mr Muyiwa Mutuloko, Editor, TechPoint Africa; and Mr Caleb Ojewale, Assistant Editor, BusinessDay.
All submitted articles should be 400-500 words in length and must have been published in recognised press media, while television or radio submissions must be at least 20mins long and must have been broadcast on any publicly available site such as YouTube or SoundCloud.
The organisers stressed that entries submitted without the required links or references will be disqualified and that entries will be judged based on material organisation, vocabulary, style, grammar, punctuation, spelling, neatness, reach and adherence to all other guidelines.
In the statement, it was disclosed that the OnePipe Writing Challenge is open to all forms of media, while submissions are welcome from journalists/press persons (individuals, either full time, part-time or freelance) who are presently employed in a magazine or general circulation newspaper published in Nigeria, whether daily or non-daily, broadcast or tabloid, news wire, internet publication, conventional or alternative, as well as syndicates and cooperatives that provide content for newspapers. Nominations may be made by editors, publishers, educators, journalistic groups and others.
Commenting on the initiative, the Operations Manager of OnePipe, Yvonne-Faith Elaigwu, said the company’s objective with the writing challenge is to promote financial literacy and enhance the financial experiences of people in Nigeria.
“We hope that the articles, stories, and news items produced by the press and media throughout this challenge will help everyone understand embedded finance and appreciate what the technology can achieve,” Elaigwu stated.
On his part, the founder and CEO of OnePipe, Mr Ope Adeoye, said, “The world needs a new type of financial services ecosystem, one where everyone has a role to play and everyone has some value to capture. This is what we embody at OnePipe; we help businesses across sectors to enjoy profitable participation in the fintech ecosystem.
“With our technology, we turn complex infrastructure into simple code so that businesses can focus on building market-defining products, provide their customers with credit, loan payment plans and seamless payment for services.”
Business Post reports that the OnePipe Writing Challenge aims to recognise finance-focused journalism and reward press reportage as it is part of the company’s efforts to promote and inspire more educational reporting and writing with particular emphasis on enhancing the awareness and understanding of embedded finance.
The firm intends to foster a deeper understanding of the importance of embedded finance in improving customer experience and satisfaction; while emphasising the value of good coverage and narrative as a cornerstone for enhancing public awareness of financial technology.
According to research, embedded finance will create $230 billion in income by 2025 across a variety of financial services. As the usage of this technology expands and becomes increasingly incorporated into non-financial platforms, it is critical that increased public awareness and understanding is generated.
