Uganda’s 40 days 40 fintechs now open to other East African states
Wednesday June 01 2022
Participants in one of the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative. This third season of Uganda’s 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative will for the first time cover physical destinations in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi and Rwanda. PHOTO | COURTESY
Hipipo Uganda has announced the third season of the country’s 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative with a call to digital innovators and financial technology companies (fintechs) across East Africa to take part.
The 40-day initiative, first launched in 2020, is a premier showcase event for innovations with potential to enable more people join the digital economy space and profiles emerging fintechs with unique stories.
This third season of the event will for the first time cover physical destinations in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi and Rwanda.
The platform provides a setting for the various players involved in digital and financial technology, to exhibit their products and services and also share their ideas on how to include more people, especially those unserved and underserved by the present financial systems with emphasis on interoperability.
The initiative also offers participants useful tools and an introduction to the industry’s emerging technologies, such as Mojaloop Open Source Software, and guidance from Level One Project foundational material.
The skills gained from this initiative cover Level One Project Principles, Instant and Inclusive Payment Systems (IIPS), Inclusive Finance and FinTech in general.
According to Innocent Kawooya, the Hipipo Uganda Chief Executive Officer, the intention of the initiative is to champion digital innovation and interoperable instant & inclusive payment systems (IIPS) in Africa, to a point where innovators can enjoy and achieve sound profit margins. This then helps them keep designing and deploying affordable and inclusive Financial Services for the Poor.
“It was thus pleasant for us to learn that up to 25 of our season two participants not only continued to enjoy increased client engagement and better bottom lines as a direct result of participating in the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative, but are also helping to generate economy-wide efficiencies by digitally connecting millions of low-income consumers that are learning to transact at a fast rate,” Kawooya said.
The initiative is run under HiPipo’s Include Everyone programme, which also encompasses other initiatives such as FinTech Landscape Exhibition, Women in FinTech Hackathon, Summit & Incubator and the Digital and Financial Inclusion Summit, and Digital Impact Awards Africa.
Former participants have gone ahead to innovate for sectors beyond just the traditional financial services and are making forays into healthcare, education, lending, remittances, agriculture, Robo-advisor, Payments, RegTech, InsurTech, crowdfunding, neo-banking, cryptography, cryptocurrency, Interledger, Blockchain, cross-border payments, retirement schemes and new ways of operating bonds and real estate among others.