Technology
Nokwary Technologies Wins 2020 Ecobank Fintech Challenge
By Dipo Olowookere
The 2020 edition of the Ecobank Fintech Challenge has been clinched by Ghanaian firm, Nokwary Technologies, after impressing the judges the most from the 10 finalists picked for the event.
With the win, the company, after being inducted into the Ecobank Fintech Fellowship programme to explore commercial partnerships with the pan-African banking giant, will get the $10,000 cash prize.
Nokwary is a fintech that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to promote financial inclusion. Its AI-Powered banking solution offers an opportunity for users to carry out transactions in a language to which they are familiar with using popular social media channels like WhatsApp.
At the event live-streamed from Ghana, Ukheshe Payment Solutions and Growth Factor Technologies were the first and second runners-up respectively and received $7,000 and $5,000 apiece for the efforts.
Ukheshe, a South African firm, provides a bridge between the card and the cash economy. It has created the world’s first card acceptance platform that allows unbanked merchants/traders to accept and make digital payments.
For Growth Factor, a company based in Ghana, it provides trade financing solutions designed for Micro-Small/Medium Entities (MSMEs) in order to encourage financial inclusion and growth. Its Nvoicia solution solves cash flow issues caused by delayed payments for SMEs, by enabling them to get paid in 24hrs when dealing with credit clients.
Commenting on the event, the Group CEO of Ecobank, Mr Ade Ayeyemi, congratulated the winners for their innovation and welcomed all the 2020 fellows.
He said, “The quality of the products and pitches we saw in the final this year was amazing. Clearly, it is evident that banking in Africa is moving onto a new dimension with these Fintechs leading the way; that is why we are so proud to have had them in this year’s competition and are excited to engage further with them over the next year.
“It is our expectation that we will build a few lasting partnerships which will help improve the lives of Africans all over the continent.”
On his part, the CEO and co-founder of Nokwary Technologies, Mr Dennis Asamoah Owusu, expressed his excitement for the victory, saying, “I was beyond excited.
“Our company is rather young and to be recognized like this on such a stage was really exciting as well as a validation for our focus on creating inclusive technology right from the start.
“It is also very encouraging to note that a major bank like Ecobank places such a premium on inclusion and is willing to back and promote innovative and cutting-edge technologies towards that purpose.
“We are looking to work together with Ecobank to bring an AI-first digital banking platform over WhatsApp, as well as other innovative solutions to Ecobank’s customers.”
This year’s finalists made it through an extremely competitive pool of over 600 applicants across Africa, Europe, North America and Asia.
All 10 finalists have officially been inducted into the Ecobank Fintech Fellowship, a one-year program which will give them the opportunity to explore opportunities for commercial partnerships with the Ecobank Group and to possibly launch and scale products across the lender’s 33-country markets in the continent.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has directed mobile network operators (MNOs) to commence implementation of the approved harmonised short codes (HSC) for providing certain services to telecom consumers in the country.
The Director of Public Affairs at the NCC, Mr Reuben Muoka, in a statement on Monday, said the unified short codes were approved in line with its consumer-centric approach to telecom regulation.
According to him, the use of harmonised short codes is aimed at achieving uniformity in common short codes across networks.
This means that the code for checking airtime balance is the same across all mobile networks for the same function, irrespective of the network a consumer uses.
With the new codes, telecom consumers using the over 226 million active mobile lines in the country can now use the same codes to access services across the networks.
Already, the agency has set a deadline of May 17, 2023, for all mobile networks to fully migrate from hitherto diverse short codes to harmonised codes.
The period between now and May 17, 2023, is provided by the NCC to enable telecom consumers to familiarise themselves with the new codes for various services.
Under the new harmonised short codes regime, 13 common short codes have been approved by the NCC and include 300 for Call Centre/Help Desk on all mobile networks; 301 for voice Mail Deposit; 302 for Voice Mail Retrieval; 303 for Borrow Services; 305 for STOP Service; 310 for Check Balance, and 311 for Credit Recharge.
Also, the common code for Data Plan across networks is now 312. In line with the new direction, 321 is for Share Services, while 323 is for Data Plan Balance. The code 996 is now for Verification of Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) Registration/NIN-SIM Linkage.
The code 2442 is retained for Do-Not-Disturb (DND) unsolicited messaging complaint management, while the common code, 3232, is also retained for Porting Services, otherwise called Mobile Number Portability.
The old and new harmonised short codes will run concurrently up until May 17, 2023, when all networks are expected to have fully migrated to full implementation of the new codes.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Cryptocurrency exchange, Bitfinex, has listed the first-of-its-kind CryptoGPT token ($GPT) in what has been touted as a revolutionised approach to artificial intelligence (AI).
The CryptoGPT, a cryptocurrency token built on an Ethereum platform, is the first-of-its-kind multi-value gas token and has the necessary demand as fuel for network transactions. It is topped up with value funnels from validator staking, cash flow from core products, and power of fee treasury which can be deployed for liquidity events like buybacks, burns, and/or expanded yield.
In a statement, the company said CryptoGPT token would revolutionise the world of AI by decentralising the data industry and giving billions of users across the world, including Africa, full control of their own AI data and freedom to monetize such data as they live their daily lives, creating a sustainable income stream.
CryptoGPT is a dedicated layer-2 blockchain built to create trillion-dollar data and power the AI revolution. The blockchain hosts apps with 2+ million active users, placing it as one of the biggest blockchains at launch. This innovation uniquely merges blockchain technology with AI and offers an ecosystem that treats data like an asset class.
The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) is bringing drastic changes in the technological fields around the world, where if implemented, it automates systems for more efficiency and performance.
From the comfort of a mobile phone and in multiple fields, AI is continuously providing high-performance and accurate system work with efficiency whilst playing an important role in helping humans work better without the help of humans. Since its inception, there is no doubt that the algorithm and success of AI is data-driven, and currently, many big tech companies and players like Meta, Google, and Amazon make billions and trillions of dollars by monetizing users’ AI data.
By creating an ecosystem that incentivizes users to earn crypto tokens and avoid constant inflation, CryptoGPT lets users capitalize on their data through its versatile $GPT token.
“No matter how much CryptoGPT ultimately decentralizes data, the $GPT token is a good investment because users can amass significant quantities of it by using the ecosystem’s apps and making referrals. This makes CryptoGPT the first sustainable ‘to earn’ ecosystem that pays users for contributing data that is then sold in the global data marketplace,” the company said.
CryptoGPT, unlike most participants in the AI boom, entered the marketplace with a compelling value proposition setting itself apart.
Currently, AI is used for different purposes and in different fields like virtual assistants or chats, healthcare agriculture, security and surveillance, logistics, shopping and fashion, agriculture, and farming. The CryptoGPT has an ecosystem of millions of daily app users with over 20+ apps in these fields as well as lifestyle, music, dating, travel, and gaming.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Financial technology (fintech) companies in Nigeria are reportedly working on a joint strategy that will help create a new registry to tackle fraudulent transactions within their networks.
A report from the publication revealed that three people familiar with the development said the registry had been stylised as Project Radar.
The registry, when public, would enable companies to pool details, including banking and government identity data, of individuals and groups that have attempted or made fraudulent transactions.
The report revealed that representatives of more than a dozen companies — including payments processor Flutterwave, digital banks Kuda and Branch, and savings app Cowrywise — joined a call on Monday (March 6), to come up with the move.
It was reported that the most vocal appeared to be Mr Olugbenga Agboola, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Africa’s most valuable startup, Flutterwave.
This could be tied to recent happenings around the company after news broke that Flutterwave was hacked for N2.9 billion ($6.3 million) in over 60 transactions in February.
Court documents showed the company filed a suit in Lagos against 16 commercial banks to freeze over 100 accounts suspected of receiving proceeds of the reported hack.
Business Post later reported that Flutterwave denied the hack, saying it observed an unusual trend of transactions on some users’ profiles, and it quickly took action.
The company said, “We want to confirm that no user lost any funds, and we take pride in the fact that our security measures were able to address the issue before any harm could be done to our users.
“Our commitment to keeping our users’ financial information safe and secure is why we invest heavily in security initiatives such as periodic audits, certifications, and licenses such as the PCI-DSS & ISO 27001. These are in line with global best practices in information security management.
“We want you to continue to trust us and feel secure using Flutterwave for your business needs. Our commitment is to enable your business growth while keeping your financial information safe and secure.”
