MTN Ghana launches 2021 Ayoba Hackathon to drive digitization agenda

MTN Ghana on Tuesday, July 27, 2021, launched its 2021 Ayoba Hackaton contest aimed at driving its digitization agenda while providing opportunities for developers and start-ups.

As part of MTN’s Ambition 2025, the business is ably positioning itself to be a digital company that will help to set the tone for the total transformation of the business.

Through the Ayoba Hackathon, the leading telecommunications network in Ghana has set sight on affording App developers the opportunity to get creative and launch their services through micro-apps on Ayoba, a super App of MTN that is present in eight African countries and in parts of Asia as well.

Following the launch of the 2021 Ayoba Hackathon at the MTN House at Ridge on Tuesday, applicants [developers, innovators, and start-ups] are cleared to log on to http://www.ayobahackathongh.com to register from now until August 25th, 2021.

Speaking at the launch, Mr. Noel Kojo-Ganson who is Chief Marketing Officer of MTN Ghana noted that in a modern world ruled by technology, his outfit wants 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 organization 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 believe 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 the event streamed online for a virtual audience.

Mr. Noel Kojo-Ganson

He said at MTN Ghana, they are confident the digital agenda which is based on the use of FinTech Solutions through MoMo, Digital Services on Ayoba, Enterprise Services, use of the Network as A Service and also the creation of an API Marketplace will greatly contribute to the digital transformation they envision.

On her part, Applications and Partnerships Manager of MTN, Mrs. Winnie Dzidonu expressed her delight at the launch of the Ayoba Hackathon as she noted that the Super App is ready to launch more micro-apps.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, I am happy to say that since the launch of Ayoba in April last year in Ghana, we have reached over 1 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 over 1 million users who can enjoy their services without using their data bundles on MTN,” she said.

Mrs. Winnie Dzidonu

Mrs. Winnie Dzidonu urged 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 digitization.

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 GHS20,000.

The second place and third place developers will also be entitled to GHS10,000 and GHS8,000 respectively.

2021 Ayoba Hackathon Competition Roadmap:

• Developers and start-ups will have to register on http://www.ayobahackathon.gh.com by August 25, 2021.
• Over two days, participants will be given access to a developer sandbox environment and they will have access to mentors who will provide tech, UI/UX, and business support.
• Participants will have three days to code and prepare their submissions for presentation and pitch their work to a panel of experts/judges.

About the Ayoba App:

Ayoba is a free instant messaging app, designed by Africans for Africans. The world-class messaging platform that reflects local needs and aspirations in the last couple of years has become ‘Super App’.

In addition to its chatting feature, Ayoba provides free in-app games. It also has channels covering eight categories: news, sport, entertainment, health and fitness, fashion and beauty, education, and music.

Ayoba currently supports 22 languages across Africa and the Middle East. And Ayoba users can also listen to music within the app.

Ayoba is currently available in nine countries, namely: Afghanistan, Cameroon, Congo Brazzaville, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Nigeria, Rwanda, and South Africa.

The App which had been downloaded over 10 million times from Google Play Store as of October 2020 has a Mobile Money feature that gives users the convenience of sending and receiving money.