EFInA, GIZ Conclude Hackathon Challenge

EFInA and GIZ have announced the winners of its recently concluded ‘MSME Finance… Breaking Barriers’ Ideathon-Hackathon.

The hackathon challenged innovative developers to develop groundbreaking solutions to help facilitate microbusinesses’ access to finance from formal sources in Nigeria.

As committed financial service providers (FSPs) introduce these solutions into the market, the aim is to facilitate MSMEs’ access to formal credit to increase their overall contribution to the economy.

While commending FSI for successfully implementing the Ideathon-Hackathon, Mr. Isaiah Owolabi, CEO, EFInA, stated that driving access to financial inclusion is one of the biggest ways to end poverty in Nigeria, “and part of this is ensuring that MSMEs can have access to finance and help accelerate the impact of a lot of interventions.”

He further explained that technology is an enabler hence the reason EFInA and GIZ organised the hackathon, to ensure that innovation and technology are leveraged to accelerate the impact of financial inclusion intervention in Nigeria.

The Cluster Coordinator, Sustainable Economic Development Cluster (SEDEC) and Head of Programme, Pro-Poor Growth, and Promotion of Employment in Nigeria – SEDIN, GIZ, Markus Wauschkuhn, congratulated the winners of the Ideathon-Hackathon.

He stated that the winning solutions when implemented would help break some of the limiting barriers MSMEs face thereby enabling the sector to deliver more gains to the nation.