Wema Bank Plc has confirmed that the best innovators in Africa will be awarded the lump sum of N70 million through its flagship youth and startup-focused tech competition named Hackaholics.

According to a statement from the bank, the 2024 Hackaholics themed: “Meta-Idea: DigiTech Solutions for Africa’s Prosperity”, the 5th edition of the competition will be executed over six months, touring 10 universities across Africa.

Wema Bank said this grand scale edition will be challenging the youths to pitch unique, innovative, and practical Digi-Tech solutions to positively impact the acceleration of progress, development, and prosperity in Nigeria and across the African continent.

Wema Bank’s Head of Innovation, Solomon Ayodele shared the details of the competition saying: “The theme for this year ‘Meta-Idea: DigiTech Solutions for Africa’s Prosperity 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. Our focus for Hackaholics 5.0 is the brilliance of your mind so we leave it to you to discover a problem area that matters and develop an innovative solution that will drive positive impact.

“Our goal is to birth solutions that address diverse aspects of real-world challenges, and you have the opportunity to be a part of this transformative journey“, Ayodele revealed.

According to the bank, the top finalists will be competing in the grand finale of Hackaholics 5.0 and the winner will go home with N30million worth of prizes.

Others will be N20 million for first runner-up; N15 million worth of prizes for Second Runner-up; Women-led team N10 million worth of prizes and University Stem Endowment, N15 million worth of prizes.

Wema Bank’s Executive Director of Retail and Digital Business Tunde Mabawonku said the bank is committed to championing innovation and empowering innovators while he emphasized the role of Hackaholics in bridging the gaps in Africa’s macroeconomic landscape through innovation.

Mabawonku said the bank targets ‘Empowering Lives Through Innovation’ and this is the exact purpose behind Hackaholics.

“We have taken our 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,” he said.

Mabawonku also noted that Hackaholics as a platform challenges creative minds and piques curiosity to bring those ideas to life, while also providing invaluable tools and resources to amplify the ideas, taking them from Idea to Product for the world to benefit.

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.