Bill Gates Bestowed with Africa’s Financial Inclusion Medal Of Honor – at #DIAA2019 #IncludeEveryone

HiPipo, through its Include Everyone program is delighted to celebrate global business leader Bill Gates with a Digital Impact Awards Africa honor, the ‘Africa’s Financial Inclusion Medal of Honor.’

The Africa Financial Inclusion Medal of Honor is awarded to an individual or organization that is has made exceptional contribution to Africa’s Digital space, by specifically taking lead in ensuring that there is provision of affordable, reliable and accessible financial services across the continent.

According to GSMA 2018 report, mobile money is now available in 100 countries through over 300 services globally. The number of verified mobile money accounts is reaching a total of half a billion globally with strong growth in Sub-Saharan Africa.

This fast-growing mobile money penetration that has greatly improved financial inclusion to the poorest of the poor is thanks to the tremendous work done by development partners that have invested time and money in research and delivery of sustainable financial solutions for the poor. Notable among such partners is the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

The different researches and productions/live projects that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is supporting are mammoth contributions that demonstrate how different industries can innovate and positively transform life using mobile financial services.

It is against this background that Digital Impact Awards Africa appreciates this noble contribution and thus presents the “Africa’s Financial Inclusion Medal of Honor, 2019” to Bill Gates, the Co-chairman of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

The Medal of Honor was accompanied with a Special Fiber Mosaic Art Piece

It is an original and unique piece with a patterned surface consisting of various simple patterns of quite collaborated color effects made with small pieces of banana fibre, plywood and glue.

Godfrey Kabaale Phipo crafted the best ever most durable, greatest looking, most admirable medal to celebrate Bill Gates. In his own words,

“This art piece is a patterned surface made with small pieces of banana fibre, stuck on plywood with art glue. This art piece took me 6,570 man hours to finish. It required a detailed and customized attention for any slight distraction would make me lose truck. This art piece will forever be a very special art piece to me because it has made me discover the potential I never imagined I had.”

The Digital Impact Awards Africa honor and special mosaic art piece was received by Dr. Warren D. Carew, Vice President – Payment at ModusBox on behalf of the Gate Foundation at the recently concluded 6^th edition of Include Everyone Summit and #DIAA2019.

Since their inception, the Digital Impact Awards Africa (DIAA) have enjoyed increasing international recognition. Today they are among the most respected and sought-after prizes bestowed.

Their prestige, acknowledged within Africa and rest of the world, has grown over the years because the public and digital industry recognizes the DIAA as an award based on technical achievement and because care has been taken to preserve the integrity of the DIAA. Specifically, the Digital Impact Awards Africa has carefully limited reproductions of the DIAA statuettes.