Wema Bank Earmarks N70m Cash Prizes For 5th Hackaholics Winners

No fewer than N70 million cash reward would be doled out to winners of the 5th edition of Wema Bank’s Hackaholics.

Hackaholics is an annual tech and innovation competition birthed by Wema Bank in 2019. This groundbreaking annual Hackathon provides a platform for young Nigerians with tech-driven ideas to bring their game-changing ideas to life, scale their ventures and access a wider market for these tech-enabled solutions.

While the winner will get N30 million, N20 million goes to first Runners’ Up while the 2nd Runners’ Up will get N15 million cash gifts. The Winner of the Women Category is also expected to win N10 million.

The bank’s management staff, at the press conference to announce Hackaholics 5.0 at the Bank’s head office in Lagos yesterday, noted that, Hackaholics has, over 4 editions, transformed thousands of lives and businesses across the country, helping Nigerian Youth to build their own Startups, create sustainable sources of income and gain a competitive edge on the global tech and innovation scene.

Themed ‘Meta-Idea: DigiTech Solutions for Africa’s Prosperity,’ Wema Bank’s executive director of Retail and Digital Business, Tunde Mabawonku, emphasised the role of Hackaholics in bridging the gaps in Africa’s macroeconomic landscape through innovation.

According to him, “Our mission as a bank is very clear, ‘Empowering Lives Through Innovation’ and this is the exact purpose behind Hackaholics. Within the bank, we have transformed the status quo and redefined the standards with cutting-edge solutions and technology, hence our position as Nigeria’s most innovative bank, but we didn’t end there.”

With Hackaholics, he said, the bank has taken its innovation drive outside the bank, empowering youth for success and facilitating the development of transformative solutions tailored to the needs of diverse Nigerians and even the African populace, adding that, “by embracing innovation, fostering a culture of collaboration, and prioritising customer-centricity, we have and will continue to transform and position Wema Bank as a digital leader, in action, products and services.

“Our aspirations are not merely about implementing new technologies; they are about fundamentally transforming how we operate, to be Simple, Seamless, Convenient and Reliable in service to our customers.”

Explaining the details of Hackaholics 5.0, Wema Bank’s Head of Innovation, Solomon Ayodele added that, the theme is anchored on two principal factors—The Meta Idea and African Prosperity.

“We are challenging the youth to develop extraordinary ideas that will proffer practical solutions to our local problems as Africans. This year, we are widening our scope across the six geopolitical zones in Nigeria, and we are also touching Africa. As you may know, we launched the Hackaholics Digital Summit last year, culminating the Hackaholics 4.0 journey in grand style.

“This year, you’re going to experience the Coachella of the tech industry at our Hackaholics 5.0 grand finale tech festival, and the journey begins today. For this year’s Hackaholics, we are not limiting entries to any specific verticals. Any verticals you can think of will be accepted, “ he pointed out, urging interested persons to submit their entry through the bank’s website.

The Hackaholics is a product of Wema Bank who is the pioneer of Africa’s first fully digital bank, ALAT.

Through Hackaholics 5.0, Wema Bank said, it is taking on the mantle of enabling Nigerian Youth and aspiring Startup Owners to also become innovators, championing national development and the prosperity of the entire African Continent, all through this one revolutionary hackathon, Hackaholics 5.0.