Female Economy Receives Boost As Winners Emerge in Moniepoint, HSBC Powered Alliance Hack 2024

By Bemigho Awala

Women represent the world’s largest and fastest-growing market — and one that has been largely overlooked by the incumbent and fintech sectors alike. By overlooking the female economy opportunity, fintechs are leaving trillions on the table. Accelerating the financial power of all women by working to champion the female economy and unlocking its full value has been the driving force of the Financial Alliance for Women.

In 2019, the Financial Alliance for Women identified the fintech sector as a significant business opportunity to address key issues in the financial inclusion of women globally, which the traditional sector has struggled with and instituted the Alliance Hackathon to develop scalable solutions that solve key female economy challenges. 

This year’s edition, sponsored by Moniepoint Inc and HSBC, with the theme ‘Shaping Economies through Gender-Intelligent Fintech’ showcased cutting-edge solutions aimed at advancing financial inclusion and empowerment. According to Inez Murray, CEO, Financial Alliance for Women, “We make the business case for women’s economic advancement and help them drive profits, grow their programmes through key platforms. We received a record number of entries to our annual Alliance Hackathon this year, with more than 200 fintechs from around the world applying to take part. After pouring over the applications, the field narrowed to 15 exceptional finalists selected to compete in the hack throughout early August, fine tuning their tech-based solutions to facilitate women’s financial inclusion.”

With a call to fintechs around the world to pitch creative and innovative tech-based solutions that expands women business owners’ access to finance; provides non-financial services that accelerate their business growth; supports women to invest and build wealth; and support women to mitigate and adapt to climate change, the shortlist of 15 fintechs that made the final include Penny, Pilou, Rusyve, DREX, QuickLegal, MICROWD, Halal Money Transfer (HMT), Finan Co., Ltd, Warmi, Kitspay Private Limited, HiSofi, Futa, Famunera Limited, and 6C’S Skill’s Exchange. 

The shortlisted fintechs received one-on-one mentoring from a highly experienced mentor cohort featuring leaders like Moniepoint’s VP, Corporate Affairs, Edidiong Uwemakpan. They also took part in peer learning clinics focused on building a successful women-centered strategy, and got the chance to pitch in front of a panel of high-impact executives from global financial services institutions.

Creating a solution that helps develop mass market women’s investment capabilities, Pilou, a by-women, for-women platform offering women in Latin America personalized financial education and investment tools alongside low-cost, diversified investment portfolios managed in a transparent manner has emerged first place winner as the Female Economy FinTech of the Year in the 2024 Alliance Hack. 

DREX, a renewable energy financing platform dedicated to funding small to medium-sized renewable energy projects and link women-owned businesses in Ecuador in with women-owned solar farms that could cover 100% of their energy requirements took second place as Female Economy Silver Fintech Award winner and Futa, which supports small businesses in Francophone Africa by using payroll data to provide their employees with fast and fair access to financing received the Female Economy Bronze Fintech Award as third place winner. 

Tosin Eniolorunda, CEO, Moniepoint Inc, acknowledged that women’s financial inclusion is not just a matter of equality, it’s a powerful catalyst for economic growth and societal progress. “At Moniepoint, we’re committed to playing our part in unlocking the full potential of the female economy. This is why we chose to sponsor the Alliance Hackathon. We believe that by fostering innovation in fintech, we can accelerate the development of solutions that address the unique financial needs and challenges faced by women around the world. From expanding access to finance for women entrepreneurs to providing tools for wealth building and climate action, the challenges tackled in this hackathon align perfectly with our vision for a more inclusive future where societies can experience financial happiness and their dreams are powered,” Eniolorunda said.

Furthermore, Eniolorunda, who also served as a judge on the Hackathon, said: “To the winners, you’ve shown us that with the right tools and support, we can make significant strides in bridging the gender gap in financial services and making a real difference to improve women’s lives across the globe. Moniepoint remains committed to supporting this journey, and we look forward to seeing the impact these solutions will have in the years to come.”

Recognizing the contributions of the sponsors, Moniepoint Inc and HSBC, Financial Alliance for Women noted that: “Today, five years later, we are proud of the great impact we are creating. Not only are we raising awareness within the fintech ecosystem, but we are also witnessing fintechs becoming increasingly gender-intelligent. We would like to thank you for your high-level engagement and commitment to the Alliance Hack. Without your contributions, the hackathon wouldn’t be possible.”

• Mr. Awala writes from Lagos