Telecommunications giant, MTN Ghana, has launched its 2021 Ayoba Hackaton contest aimed at driving its digitisation agenda to help provide opportunities for developers and start-ups.
The launch is to enable applicants consisting of developers, innovators, and start-ups to register to participate in the national contest between July 27 and August 25, 2021.
The Hackathon contest allows App developers to get creative and launch their services through micro-apps for the telecom giant’s Ayoba platform.
As part of MTN’s Ambition 2025, the business is positioning itself to be a digital company that will help to set the tone for the total transformation of the business.
Launching the initiative in Accra on July 27, the Chief Marketing Officer of MTN Ghana, Mr Noel Kojo-Ganson, observed that in a modern world ruled by technology, MTN wanted to give Ghanaians the chance to come up with solutions not only to drive the progress of Ghana but Africa as a whole.
“Our vision, as an organisation, is to lead the delivery of a bold new digital world to our customers. In addition to the vision, we have an ambition which drives all that we do in the digital space.
“It is our firm belief that ‘everyone deserves the benefit of a modern connected life and with the right digital solutions we can drive Africa and Ghana’s progress,” he said.
“At MTN, we strive to give opportunities to all to be a part of our business growth through innovation. As an enabler of opportunities, MTN has among others created such opportunities through its Apps Challenge Competition and MoMo to drive innovation in the App developer community.
“Over the years, we have also seen young people across the African continent being innovative by using technology to offer solutions to complex problems and needs facing the continent. We are confident that the best brains in the ICT space, if given the opportunity, will drive Africa’s digital progress,” he said.
Ayoba platform
The Applications and Partnerships Manager of MTN Ghana, Mrs Winnie Dzidonu, said the Ayoba platform was ripe to launch more micro-apps through which developers, start-ups, and businesses could reach out to over one million users who would enjoy its services without using their data bundles on MTN.
“I am happy to say that since the launch of Ayoba in April last year in Ghana, we have reached over one million local monthly active users.
“We are also excited to say that the Ayoba platform is ripe to launch more micro-apps through which developers, start-ups, and businesses can reach out to more than one million users who can enjoy their services without using their data bundles on MTN.
“In view of that, as we launch the Ayoba Hackathon, I urge all Apps developers, start-ups, and businesses to put on their thinking caps and zoom into the innovation zone and come up with solutions that can catapult Africa to the next level of digitisation.
“We have a lot of confidence in our judges to select the right Applications that will feature on Ayoba,” she stated.
At the end of the 2021 Ayoba Hackathon, three winners will be selected. Among many goodies, the ultimate winner will take home an amount of GH¢20,000.
The second and third place developers, respectively, will also be entitled to GH¢10,000 and GH¢8,000.
