Wema Empowers Youths through Hackaholics 

 The fourth edition of the Wema Bank’s Hackaholics, which provided a platform for young innovators to bring their creative ideas to life, hone their skills, and gain a competitive edge in the global technology and digital space, will long be remembered as one of the empowerment schemes needed to break the jinx of unemployment in the country, writes Nume Ekeghe

The just-concluded fourth edition of Hackaholics by Wema Bank witnessed over 3,000 young Nigerians indicating their interest in showcasing their talents and proffering solutions to real-life problems bedeviling the country.

    Hackaholics is Wema Bank’s youth and start-up-focused initiative, designed to provide a platform for young innovators with game-changing, tech-driven ideas and products, to bring their creative ideas to life, hone their skills, and gain a competitive edge in the global technology and digital space.

   The participants, which spanned across the 36 states of the federation, including the Federal Capital Territory in over 37 universities, were mentored, groomed, and given adequate encouragement to achieve their purpose.

   Since its launch in 2019, Hackaholics has toured the six geo-political zones in Nigeria including 37 universities across Africa, sourcing creative undergraduate students, youth, and start-ups, challenging them to innovate and create practical solutions to real-life problems, using technology.

    The fourth edition of Hackaholics, dubbed ‘Hackaholics 4.0: Re-imagine: Disrupting the Ecosystem for Scale,’ witnessed participants pitch compelling creative ideas for impactful solutions that would ease struggles across 10 different areas of human life, which include: education, climate, gov tech, health, gender-based violence, financial inclusion, entertainment, fintech, insurance and civic tech.

Out of the 3,000 applicants, the best-performing contestants were unveiled as the Top 25 finalists on Thursday in Lagos, where they convened for a week-long programme of strategic digital empowerment activities, carefully curated by Wema Bank.

    In the first few days, finalists received one-of-a-kind executive mentorship from renowned national and global technology corporations like Microsoft, KPMG, Samsung, Paystack, Flutterwave, and Dream Space, among others, to equip them with hands-on insight and prepare them for the Hackaholics 4.0 grand finale pre-pitch.

     However, out of the 25, only 10 finalists emerged at the grand finale pre-pitch event held at Wema Bank headquarters in Marina, after intense scrutiny by the judges. The ten finalists include IRETI, GRIP, Trakka, Outsidee, Chao, Raptor, Pup Industries, University-X, Naijabox and MumAlive.

Speaking at the Pre-Pitch, Head, of Innovation and Emerging Technologies, Wema Bank, Solomon Ayodele, noted that the finalists were shortlisted from over 3,000 applications from students from universities across the country.

Ayodele explained that the essence of Pre-Pitch, which saw 10 emerge from 25 finalists was to help the finalists refine their pitches through rigorous training as the bank aims to bring out the best for the Grand Finale.

“It is clear on both individual and industrial levels that the Hackaholics vision has been perfectly brought to life and its impact on the lives and businesses of Nigerians nationwide cannot be over-emphasised. This year’s Hackaholics Digital is a gathering of innovators, disruptors, regulators, policymakers, investors & customers in the digital space. It is part of Wema Bank’s quest to empower lives through innovation, to a whole new level.

   He added that the digital summit serves as a hub for sharing cutting-edge insights, trends, and best practices in the tech industry towards the positive transformation of technology and innovation not just in Nigeria but across Africa.

“With over 300,000 lives already impacted, the future of innovation in Africa is potentially glistening, thanks to Wema Bank’s unwavering commitment to fostering collaboration and driving innovation.”

One of the panel of judges at the event, Startup fund manager at Google, Femi Awoniyi said part of the things that were considered were how strong the team is, how innovative the solution is, how sound the business model is, and its propensity for scale.

“I’m a big fan of innovation and seeing how innovation can touch lives and defend businesses. The more we come up with things of this nature, these kinds of events, where we are creating a space where innovators can feel comfortable, while providing them with some capital should be encouraged.

“Today’s event is a catalyst and motivating factor for the participants to roll out their solutions and help more people or more businesses becomes like a vicious cycle.

  “We just listened to a couple of solutions in various sectors including health care, and we are seeing how we can help women and people that are facing things like breast cancer, and solve other real-life problems that the people are facing every day. If things like this can be encouraged, lots of lives will be touched.”

 Another judge, Rosemond Phil-Odhihiwa, a startup attorney and corporate consultant noted that one of the key things that the panel was particular about was innovation as the theme of the Hackaholic portrays. “So, we’re looking for viability, innovation, and capacity to scale,” she said.

   At the digital summit and grand finale event, Team Ireti, a health-tech startup that helps women bridge the gap and manages breast cancer, emerged winner of the Wema Bank’s Hackaholics 4.0. She won the N15 million cash prize for the best-pitched business, while GRIP – a fintech startup – won N10 million as the first runner-up and Trakka won N7 million as the second runner-up.

   Also, Outsidee won N5 million for the Women Led Award – a prize instituted to support women in tech. Other winners are Naijabox as the best energy startup; PUP Industries won the award for the best climate subset; MumAlive won in the health startup category; Chao won the e-commerce category, and University-X won the edutech category.

Also, three universities won the Wema Bank Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics endowment fund. They are Babcock University N10 million; Afe Babalola University N7 million and Nile University won N5 million respectively.

  Speaking after picking the prize, founder and creative director of Ireti, Jane Agbaohwo, said “Going forward we will be able to reach out to women in urban communities and also women in rural communities because we are partnering with NGOs. We are reaching out to them; helping them to create awareness about breast cancer – it kills, but you stand a chance to live if you detect early and start treatment on time,”

MD/CEO of Wema Bank, Moruf Oseni, stated that a unique blend of traditional banking expertise, and technology embedded deeply in the bank’s system has allowed them to support the growth of the tech ecosystem in Nigeria.

“We also recognise that any economy that is serious about sustainable economic and social development must pay serious attention to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education. Entertainment and sports have put Nigeria on the global landscape in a positive light, but they cannot help to predict technology and infrastructure deficits that will see Nigeria achieve its true potential.”

Oseni noted that innovation is essential to sustainable success, urging the audience to collaborate, innovate, and leverage opportunities to sustain the growth of their businesses and innovative solutions.

    “This is just the beginning. We are deeply rooted in this journey of empowering lives and fostering a digital and national transformation through innovation and collaboration. Rest assured that the Hackaholics Digital Summit 2024 will be bigger and much better. I thank you for your support all through our journey and I resound our commitment to you; We are with you, all the way.”

   Founder /CEO of Flutterwave, Olugbenga Agboola, in a keynote address, said events like Hackaholics 4.0 could provide valuable opportunities to founders who are leveraging technology to solve both local and global challenges.

Commending Wema Bank’s record of sustainably empowering lives and businesses, he expressed gratitude to the bank for consistently enabling FinTechs and small businesses across Nigeria to thrive.

 “The Flutterwave story is incomplete without Wema Bank. Their dedication and passion are inspiring and I say this because I have witnessed the sacrifices and support Wema Bank has given. We have grown sitting on the shoulders of this giant and the symbolic nature of Wema Bank as the infrastructure that not only drives innovation but also provides a platform for innovations to emerge is second to none. I am excited about the Hackaholics Digital Summit and I conclude by saying this: If you want to go far, go with people.”

Executive Director of Retail and Digital Business, Wema Bank, Tunde Mabawonku, said that the digital summit transcends boundaries to unite digital innovators, visionaries, and industry leaders from across Nigeria. “It’s all about harnessing the collective potential of startup founders to redefine the boundaries of what’s possible in the digital age”.

  According to him, the theme for this year’s Hackaholics encapsulates the very essence of the bank’s innovation program. “It embodies our sheer belief in a world where change is only constant. Our ability to reimagine and disrupt the status quo is what sets us apart,” Mabawonku said.

  The grand finale event united key players in the technology and digital space and featured renowned industry giants like Microsoft, Flutterwave, Interswitch, PiggyVest, representatives from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Endeavor Africa, and Stears.

Others include Arese Ugwu of Smart Money Woman, Dr. Ola Brown MFR aka NaijaFlyingDoctor;  Cofounder/COO of Bamboo, Yanmo Omoregbe, Jay Alabraba of FAGA Group;  Partner at Lawracle LP, Kayode Adeniji and Former Commissioner of Youth and Sport, Seun Fakorede, among others.

 These brilliant minds, along with other principal actors in the technology space brainstormed at the summit to identify the prevalent issues youth entrepreneurs and startups may encounter in the technology industry, and provide insight, best practices, strategies, and solutions, to effectively and sustainably manage these challenges to scale.

  The summit covered every area from funding to technologies, industry practices, government policies, infrastructure, and strategic innovation for societal change. The ground-breaking summit left attendees with a renewed sense of responsibility and focus, arming them to seamlessly navigate the digital and technology industry toward self, professional, and national development.