How Nigerian Startups Earn $ 25,000 @Visa Everywhere Initiative Johannesburg

Nigerian startups CredPal and Zowasel emerged as winners in the Merchant Payments and Financial Inclusion challenges. Sub-Saharan Africa (1945A003) Everywhere Initiative, A Global Startup Program Designed to Encourage the Development of the Next Great

Their winning solutions beat 10 other contenders selected from 238 submissions to emerge as champions.

The ASS program was structured around three real business challenges:

1. Merfirst-Everents Challenge : How to allow small traders to accept in-store payments Digitally OR Providing a secure and secure solution for e-commerce users to boost e-commerce and reduce payments on delivery
2. Social Business Payments Challenge : How Startups Use Visa APIs to Leverage mbad media platforms and social partners like Facebook to help businesses that operate in fast-paced, consumer-centric environments
3. Financial Inclusion Challenge : How can startups leverage technology to provide functional services to illiterate customers to provide secure transactions that build confidence in the banking system? [19659007] The Nigerian startup CredPal won the "Merchant Payments" challenge and US $ 25,000 for its solution that allows businesses and individuals to pay for their purchases in multiple installments online and offline by providing instant access to credit at the time of payment. The merchant then completes the order and is paid in full while the customer pays CredPal in fixed monthly installments.

   Zowasel, another Nigerian start-up, has developed a solution that connects underfunded smallholder farmers to investors via P2P. sales in the market and gives them access to the best agricultural practices. They won in the "Financial Inclusion" challenge. The SSA edition of Visa's Everywhere initiative is also the first time that startups have been entrusted with a specific challenge to financial inclusion since its launch in 2015.

   Mookh Africa has developed a Social business payment solution that allows Africans to Buy and Sell on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Once the seller creates an online store on Mookh, he can incorporate it into his Facebook page. The Kenyan startup has won both the "Social Business Payments" challenge and the overall price of its idea. The company pocketed US $ 50,000 and had the opportunity to work with Visa to further develop the concept

   Geraldine Mitchley, Senior Director – Digital Solutions, Sub-Saharan Africa to Visa, said : I've had the privilege of working with some of the best minds in the region over the last few months and the winners of the three selected categories have the potential to really change the way people pay in the region. We congratulate Mookh Africa, CredPal and Zowasel and thank all the finalists for their participation in the Everywhere initiative. "

   She added: " The future of digital payments will be shaped by collaboration and we look forward to working with our start-up partners to transform the payments landscape over the next few years for the benefit of consumers, merchants and issuers. This is an exciting period in fintech payments and space in Africa. "

   Oluwakemi Okunsanya, Managing Director: Visa West Africa, said: " Visa is proud to play its role in Africa by enabling a smart economy powered by secure digital payments . This vision comes alive when we can collaborate with pbadionate minds and foster an entrepreneurial ecosystem where innovators can thrive. Today, we have seen this pbadion and this innovation first hand; and we are excited to develop the technologies that have ensured the best positions in each of these challenges. In collaboration with Visa and our financial institution partners, we would like to see at least some of these become a reality for consumers in the near future.

   Carmen Whatley, Executive Director, Accenture Digital Financial Services and one of the judges for the finals said: "VEI is a Very powerful initiative.Africa is always made to feel like the lost continent and today we have seen what comes out of the continent.It was hallucinating and a reminder that good ideas are everywhere. I was energized, it was amazing to me to see that we had a panel of judges who came from very different backgrounds and who looked at it from very different angles, and we decided unanimously winners, there were very clear and innovative ideas, or those with a phenomenal social impact.All winners have incredible ideas for Africa – access to funding for clients, at the linking small farmers with financiers – the point the most important thing was to see these ideas and their social impact.

   Global program designed to support the company's goal of fostering the growth of next-generation payment technologies. This is the first time that Visa has been rolling out its Everywhere initiative in sub-Saharan Africa and that finalists from Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda and Zambia are participating in the event. final. To date, nearly 2,100 Fintech startups from North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia have participated.