Team C-Stell Wins as Access Bank, AFF sponsor Nigeria’s Largest Hackathon
Team Cosmos Constellation (C-Stell) has emerged winners in the //Re:Code Nigeria Hackathon 2018 themed “Data Hack” which was sponsored by Access Bank Plc in partnership with Africa Fintech Foundry (AFF).
The team was part of the 115 multiple teams of talented developers, designers, problem-solvers, out-of-the-box thinkers, and code magicians that participated in the event.
//Re:Code Nigeria Hackathon is an event that brings together developers from diverse background in Nigeria to collaborate in providing innovative solutions to help resolve some of the Nation’s toughest challenges in the financial services industry.
Participants were grouped into 26 teams to provide solutions to three problem statements, and pitch their solutions to the judges within a time frame of 48hours. The winners went home with a cash prize totalling almost N5million among other prices.
The winning team this year, Cosmos Constellation (C-Stell) created a system to minimise demurrage contributed by human errors by creating a system that uses optical character recognition to fetch text from scanned documents. It also provides notifications to minimise demurrage and offers the tracking of shipments across ports.
Team Ace took second place with their solution called TrackIt. They created a system that not only views and gives up to date tracking of shipments, but can check analytics and provide information of all payments accrued and shipments in process or honoured in real time.
Third place went to Team BAT (Building Awesome Technologies). They created a Smart assistant which leverages Imputed data set, Unsupervised Deep-learning algorithm and Internet of things to aid and guide the users in making informed decision while keeping engagement simple
Speaking at the event, Adeleke Adekoya, AFF’s Business Solutions Architect said, “At AFF, we are known to lead and deliver a comprehensive digital strategy and be at the forefront in providing innovative technological solutions leading to significant improvements in customer satisfaction. We organize Hackathon to bring indigenous technological solutions to the global stage, and showcase Nigeria’s strides and solutions in the Fintech and technology space as this will rapidly unlock new economic opportunities and accelerate our development as a nation.”
Victor Etuokwu, Executive Director, Access Bank Plc said for Fintech to thrive in Nigeria, a framework that encourages innovation and ensures consumers are protected must be in place.
“At Access Bank, we have a track record of technological innovation and as a leading Bank in driving digital banking in Africa. We seek to create new opportunities in emerging markets by providing a platform designed to inspire and challenge innovators and entrepreneurs, as such we have partnered with AFF and leveraged on our global platform to further foster innovation, drive entrepreneurship as well as economic development,” he stated.
He maintained that Access Bank was committed to supporting innovative projects and ideas initiated for the benefit of the Nigerian economy and Africa as a whole.
Meanwhile, James Todd, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Unilever Plc expressing his joy at the successful outcome of the event adding that, “It was a huge pleasure and a great privilege to take part in Hackathon 2018 and I was delighted with the output from the teams. Personally, I found it a huge learning experience, and I am already applying some of the lessons for impact in our business across Africa.”
The problem statements for //Re:Code Nigeria Hackathon 2018 included How financial technology can address supply chain challenges (from finished goods to retail) in the FMCG sector to drive profitability and growth; Leveraging big-data analytics, Identity management and behavioral analysis to identify customers’ needs, reduce risk, exposure, provide investment advice & lending services; and Financial Inclusion for the Agric and related sectors with a focus on improving credit scoring and financing opportunities for small and medium scale operators.
The panel of judges include James Todd – CFO Unilever Africa, Victor Etuokwu, Executive Director, Personal Banking, Access Bank Plc, Bayo Adekanmbi, Chief Technical Officer (CTO), MTN, Iyin Aboyeji, Managing Director, Flutterwave and Ayodeji Balogun, Country Manager AFEX.
The event also had in attendance high profiled personalities such as Ernest Ndukwe, OFR, former Vice Chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Adebisi Shonubi, CEO, Nigeria Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS), and Roosevelt Ogbonna, Group Deputy Managing Director of Access Bank Plc.
Business Hilights recalls that the first edition of AFF Hackathon held in 2017 was themed “Customer experience and value beyond payment”, unveiled the birth of an AI platform by the winning team called Voice IT- a cloud-based, pay as you go, face and voice biometrics platform which allows a rapid build and deployment of security solutions.
