Join The MTN MoMo API Hackathon 2023 And Stand A Chance To Win $10 000

MTN’s Mobile Money offering, MoMo, is inviting skilled tech developers and innovators to participate in the MTN MoMo API Hackathon which is aimed at producing solutions that shape the future of demand-driven financial services. This exciting event is giving South Africans the opportunity to win $10,000 or R185 925.00 and to be part of making a real impact on financial services in the country.

Spanning across 15 countries, each with its own prize pool, the MoMo Hackathon is now open to South Africans for the first time and is open from 31 July until 9 October 2023.

“The MTN MoMo platform offers consumers and businesses easy access to various innovative digital financial services. In South Africa alone, eight million people are registered on the MTN MoMo platform. This massive user base makes it ideal for local talent, developers, companies, and entrepreneurs to unlock economic growth through financial and digital solutions in their communities,” says Bradwin Roper, Chief Financial Services Officer at MTN SA. 

Through the Open API Platform, developers participating in the hackathon will compete to design and develop a solution that goes beyond processing payments and incorporating additional features and functionalities that promote financial inclusion and literacy in their registered markets.

Following the closing of entries, the MTN judging panel will select their Top 12 applicants to advance to the prototyping phase and compete for the US$10 000 prize in South Africa.

Key details of the hackathon are: 

• The challenge will run from July 31, 2023, to October 9, 2023.
• Developers have five weeks to submit innovative ideas for financial and transactional applications incorporating MTN Mobile Money APIs.
• The mobile application must target consumers, merchants, or businesses, providing practical and valuable solutions that can be deployed in the developers’ registered markets. The applications should cover use cases beyond payment, leveraging MTN MoMo APIs.
• MTN in each participating country will select the top 12 applicants to advance to the prototyping phase.
• Preselected applicants will be required to develop a working prototype of their solution and provide a live application demo to the adjudicators.
• Interested developers can find more information and register on: https://momo2023.hackerearth.com/
• Finalists stand a chance to win their share of USD 10,000 in prize money in their respective countries.

According to Roper, as newly developed solutions are introduced and adopted, they will also be helping advance MTN’s drive to build a pan-African Fintech platform that is enabling millions of Africans, previously excluded from the financial mainstream, to take control of their financial futures.

“We aim to encourage and bring to the fore the talent and creativity of Africa’s developers, enabling them to showcase their capabilities by leveraging the MoMo platform and creating opportunities for their growth.”

“Bridging the financial services gap requires wide-ranging partnerships. By working with partners across the spectrum, from regulators to financial service providers and merchants, MTN can help improve millions of Africans’ economic and social well-being. Encouraging the participation of local talent, familiar with local needs, is an important facet of the partnership process,” concludes Roper.