As part of our continuous efforts to not only improve the quality and variety of digital financial services, with a special emphasis on those that cater for the unbanked and underserved, but also to ensure that the delivery of these services offers rewards to the innovators, HiPipo sought to build on the gains made from the 2nd Women-in-FinTech Hackathon & Summit. And this we have successfully done by engaging the Hackathon’s top teams in the inaugural Women-in-FinTech Incubator.
The essence of the Incubator is to empower the innovators with entrepreneurial and operational skills to complement their already formidable technical acumen. Thus, over the course of 90 days, the Incubator participants have been part of multiple online sessions and face-to-face group consultations, with even a cocktail thrown in for good measure. The facilitators, who included HiPipo CEO Innocent Kawooya and Ideation Corner Founder Damali Ssali, covered a vast range of topics to ready the participants for the business journey ahead. Core to the Incubator was to create linkages between the Level One Project principles and how they can be the firm foundation on which a successful FinTech vehicle is built.
We at HiPipo are glad that March 8th, the International Women’s Day, has served up a fantastic opportunity. In conjunction with the Ideation Corner, we intend to also use that day as the conclusion of the Incubator. It was Damali Ssali, who recently ascended to the Ambassadorial role for Uganda at the United Nations Women’s Entrepreneurship Day Organisation (WEDO), and is now also an Advisory Board Member of the Africa Continental Chamber of Commerce and Industry, who helped us shape the idea.
It is greatly symbolic for all of us that the day set aside to remind all that women must be given the opportunities to fulfill their potential, that all forms of discrimination and sexism that have been placed in their path need to end, and that the world will only truly bridge its development gaps if women are fully brought into the innovation space, syncs perfectly with what the Women-in-FinTech Hackathon & Summit in particular and indeed the HiPipo Include Everyone program in general, stands for- to break all biases that hinder the acquisition and adoption of life changing digital financial technology.
And to all those that have successfully taken part, we can assure you that this is just the beginning. HiPipo will continue to be there for you as you set forth to conquer the world with your innovations. Our promise of service is the least you deserve for choosing to make the world a better place through the power of digital financial technology. So handing you your certificates on March 8th is just another landmark in our shared journey. Congratulations, dear friends!
Arthur expounded on what he referred to the ‘values desirable as social beings’. He explained these as the values that are common and constant to every human being, regardless of their background or status. These include integrity, respect, loyalty and responsibility. They work as uniting factors for any team and/or organisation. In fact, it is nigh impossible for productive working relationships to be built without them inculcated into a team.
Emmanuel Kintu continued on the Fundamentals of Photography, detailing what camera modes there are (automatic and manual), and also touched on speed and aperture priority. He alerted the participants to the fact that henceforth they will need to take time to ‘plan’ for what kind of image/photo they want, especially as they communicate about their products/services. Will it look better in black & white? Should the background be blurry in order for the focus to be on the subject in the foreground? Such are the questions they needed to get used to asking themselves.
Steven Kimuli brought in the aspect of a mood board: it being a collection of textures, images and text related to your company, and thus being essential to the creative process so that efforts directed towards design are not haphazard, and are indeed aligned with your desired creative direction. He also gave pointers on what to look out for in order to hire the right team for a design job, alerting all to the fact that design has its own specialisations, and knowing who to approach reduces on the portfolios you would end up sifting through.
For Innocent Kawooya, the Tiered KYC angle he tackled today was to explain how The Level One Project advises financial players to be innovative and flexible about gathering KYC data. The process should not be overly complicated for the targets i.e. the onus is on the innovators to find fitting ways to onboard those they are interested in, ensuring at the very least they now have a transactional account. He also contributed to the values discussion, as part of a response to a participant who talked of an unfortunate time when she went unpaid for services she had provided. His warning to the participants was for them to endeavour to pay their debts, warning of instances to come when the temptation might come to delay a payment instead settling it immediately.
Emmanuel Kintu rounded off his talk on digital camera settings, touching on the aspects of exposure, shutter speed, aperture diameter and ISO (International Standards Organisation). His presentation, as usual, was furnished with a variety of images to illustrate what he was explaining.
Arthur talked about four categories of value: personal, spiritual, family and career. He again stressed how all are interlinked, and should not be developed independent of each other.
Steven Kimuli’s discussion this time round looked at the things a company (or even an individual) needs to do in regards to branding in order to stand out against competitors. This includes one stepping out of their own space and concentrating on what they are doing, and taking time to get to know both the key players and influencers in their industry.
Innocent Kawooya introduced Tiered KYC as the week’s Principle to concentrate on. He thus highlighted the importance of the innovators understanding their target and/or market. This they should do to the best of their ability, and know that it is a never-ending process to which a fair bit of resources should always be readily dedicated.
The aspect of the Social Venture Business Model George discussed today was the value proposition. He described how it is 2-way: on one hand there’s the promise by the service provider to the client that what the former puts forth will be of value. And on the client’s side there is the belief that this value will be delivered, experienced and/or acquired. This’ important for the innovators, for it will always be necessary for them to understand what their clients need, and thus what is expected of them to deliver. Or provide value, you could say.
Continuing on mass communication, Francis defined and discussed three types of it: journalism, advertising and public relations. He illustrated the differences between the three, specifically how all might target the same individuals, but are expected to elicit different reactions.
Emma started his talks on the Fundamentals of Photography, first by getting the opinions of those in attendance on what they believe photography to be. Then in his own explanation, Emma stressed how light is central to the concept of photography. He next touched on what exposure is.
Referring to all that had been spoken, Innocent illustrated how HiPipo’s own initiatives and ventures, including 40 Days 40 FinTechs, the very Women-in-FinTech Hackathon the participants had been involved in, and indeed the ongoing Incubator itself, were run along many of the principles of the Social Venture Business Model. Proper execution of these initiatives needed careful application of various types of mass communication. And, of course, documentation was nothing without photography executed in a manner both skillful and timely.
Consideration of the above is what has helped HiPipo make tremendous headway in advocating for and promoting Same Day Settlement, and indeed The Level One Project in general. They should thus also matter to the participants as they set off on their entrepreneurial journey.
Kasakya George, who you can now call the ‘Social Venture Business Model Canvas Guy’, further defined the model, this time introducing and defining what a social good is, and how the budding entrepreneurs have to take time to look at their purpose for the business and decide whether it is, well, fit for purpose. A clear realisation on how they hope to help their clients might necessitate a ‘system change’, a new model that calls for a more altruistic approach in order to bring onboard those that need the service the most.
Francis introduced the concept of mass communication, defining it and illustrating how it goes hand in hand with mass media. He also touched on two key theories of mass communication (magic bullet and agenda-setting), and asked the participants to take time to understand how they and their products and services fit into the mass communication and mass media ecosystem.
Arthur further expounded on how important values are to the worker and innovator. As one goes through personal growth, there comes a time where they seamlessly transfer that growth, with the values therein included, into the products they create and the organisations they work for. Needless to say, better people make better products, and are better attuned to the needs of those they are supposed to serve.
Innocent Kawooya, CEO – HiPipo concluded the session by urging the participants to remember that all that was being shared has to be aligned with the principle of Same Day Settlement. How they set up as a business, how they communicate, and the values they cherish as an enterprise need to be in service to this principle, and indeed all the others, as will be discussed in time.
Standard Chartered Bank was yesterday announced the 2021 Digital Brand of the year. To win this Award, Standard Chartered Bank beat competition from Stanbic Bank and Centenary Bank that came second and third respectively. As such, Standard Chartered Bank retained the same prize it won in 2020.
Digital Impact Awards Africa is a platform that promotes Digital Inclusion, Financial Inclusion and Cyber security. Precisely, the Awards seek to recognize, celebrate and appreciate different individuals and organizations that are spearheading the use of digital mediums to better serve their communities.
The 8th Digital Impact Awards Africa were held on Friday, 10th December at Mestil Hotel, Kampala as part of this year’s Digital and Financial Inclusion Summit organized by HiPipo and supported by Level One Project, Mojaloop, ModusBox and Crosslake Technologies.
The Digital and Financial Inclusion summit explored the strategic trends and technologies that are shaping the future of Digital, Information Technology and Business with special attention to the safety of customers’ funds and security of platforms in the financial technology industry. The summit discussed at length the disruptive impact of COVID-19 on the general business ecosystem and what players must do to recover.
This year’s summit brought together C-Level executives that are spearheading the introduction, adoption and usage of digital and financial services across Africa. Speakers came from multinationals, large enterprises, small and mid-sized enterprises, start-ups, informal businesses (such as market vendors and smallholder farmers) and sole proprietorships (public transport drivers/riders and e-commerce delivery agents), among others.
Below is the full list of winners of the 2021 Digital Impact Awards Africa.
Digital Banking Excellence
Standard Chartered Bank (Gold)
Stanbic Bank (Silver)
Banking Innovation Excellence
CenteOnTheGo | Centenary Bank
Community/MFI Banking Innovation Excellence
Centenary Bank (Gold)
Pride Microfinance (Silver)
FinTech Innovation Excellence
Digital Ticketing for Transport Services by KaCyber Technologies. (Gold)
SafeBoda Business Loans in partnership with Numida. (Silver)
Financial Services Digital Excellence
Stanbic Bank (Gold)
Standard Chartered Bank (Silver)
Consumer Goods Digital Excellence
Movit Products (Gold)
Café Javas (Silver)
Utilities and Government Services Digital Excellence
Ugandan women entrepreneurs have been urged to formalise and ensure consistence in both quality and quantity, to tap into the opportunities presented by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
According to the Uganda National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (UNCCI) acting secretary general Blessing Immaculate Owomugisha, women account for 70% of entrepreneurs in Uganda but only 40% operate formally.
She said this has deprived them the opportunity to tap into big markets and also stand to lose bigger opportunities under the 1.4 billion people AfCFTA market.
Owomugisha who was speaking during the 2021 Women’s Entrepreneurship day celebrations held in Kampala, recently said informality has seen almost 90% of women-businesses collapse before celebrating their first birthday.
The event was organised by the Women’s Entrepreneurship Day Organization (WEDO) Uganda ambassador Damali Ssali, supported by HiPipo, Stanbic Business Incubator, UNCCI, and Met Media.
The WEDO founder and president, Wendy Diamond said the non-governmental organisation seeks to encourage women worldwide to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams, with the goal of inspiring hope and alleviating poverty.
She noted that historically women worldwide have been under-paid, undervalued, underrepresented, underfunded and underestimated and thus the movement seeks to correct this historical global imbalance.
WEDO uses ambassadors to spread its mission and message to empower women and girls to become active participants in the economy by igniting a network of women leaders, innovators and entrepreneurs to initiate start-ups, drive economic expansion and advance communities around the world.
This is done through building and catalysing of the vital networks of like-minded individuals and organisations that women business leaders need to realise their full potential and change the world.
“It is inspiring to see women across the globe unite for a single cause. By donating their time, effort and resources to WEDO, they are not only celebrating, supporting and empowering women in business in over 100 countries but also contributing to global unification,” Diamond said.
Building on the successes of WEDO, the ambassadors across the globe are set to initiate programs, campaigns and mentorship programs with regions adopting entrepreneurial support programs that showcase new business ventures in technology, food production, fashion, retail, environmental and educational enterprises being launched.
Diamond said that empowering women worldwide and investing in their futures helps to drive and promote economic vitality and security locally and globally.
Diamond said this year’s focus is on the impact of Artificial Intelligence, Fintech and Blockchain Technologies, the disruption happening globally, and the important, pivotal role women play.
The WEDO Uganda ambassador Damali Ssali alluded to how the COVID-19 pandemic has taken a toll on Ugandan women entrepreneurs, saying that majority lost their working capital, businesses and livelihoods.
Ssali, who is also the Ideation Corner author and founder, noted that while informal cross border traders, 70% of whom are women, exported goods worth $500m in 2019, all this was lost following the border closures as governments instituted lockdown measures to curb the spread of the pandemic.
“Today we celebrate and recognise women entrepreneurs who have fought hard and strived to keep their businesses afloat during this period. These women have demonstrated resilience, tenacity, courage, adaptability and unwavering persistence to ensure that their businesses survive,” Ssali said.
Women Entrepreneurs celebrated.
Among the celebrated women was Laura Nakigozi, a poultry farmer who at the peak of the lockdown had to sell eggs at a loss due to lack of demand.
Unlike other poultry farmers who quit the business, Nakigozi later managed to bounce back into business with the continued easing of lockdown measures.
Shamim Nirere, the Izere education founder and team leader on the other hand was forced to resort to start imparting critical thinking, leadership, problem-solving skills and communication skills to pupils using an online platform due to the uncertain future of reopening schools.
As for Ephrance Eunice Namugenyi, the Business Store Manager Kuzimba Services resorted to an online web application to aids estate, site/ home building by providing fast engineering solutions and online purchases of building materials.
Kampala – Uganda – The Women’s Entrepreneurship Day Organization (WEDO) Ambassadors work globally to spread the WEDO grassroots mission and message to empower women and girls to become active participants in the economy by igniting a network of women leaders, innovators and entrepreneurs to initiate startups, drive economic expansion and advance communities around the world. In order to achieve this ambitious goal, WEDO builds and catalyzes the vital networks of like-minded individuals and organizations that women business leaders need to realize their full potential and change the world.
Our global agenda this year will focus on the impact of Artificial Intelligence, Fintech and Blockchain Technologies, the disruption happening globally, and the important, pivotal role women play!
The WEDO Ambassadors have grown to be celebrated in 144 countries and 110 universities. We convene Business Leaders, Government Officials and Civil society to collaborate and find solutions in critical areas of entrepreneurship ecosystems, education and policy creation to empower women in business.
“Historically, women worldwide have been underpaid, undervalued, underrepresented, underfunded and underestimated. We are dedicated, determined and driven to change this global imbalance”, said Wendy Diamond, Founder of Women’s Entrepreneurship Day.
The objective of our WEDO Ambassadors in 2021 is to strategically scale and deepen our impact globally.
In Uganda, women entrepreneurs will be coming together on Friday 19 November, with support from HiPipo, Stanbic Business Incubator, Uganda National Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Met Media, to celebrate, support, and empower other women entrepreneurs in the region. Damali Ssali has been selected as the Women’s Entrepreneurship Day Ambassador for 2021 representing Uganda.
Damali Ssali will be launching a series of initiatives and campaigns in support of entrepreneurial development and support for women in Uganda. An established entrepreneur and leading businesswoman in her field, WEDO Ambassador Damali Ssali, brings together a host of experiences fostering opportunities for innovation and development for women entrepreneurs.
Damali Ssali is a Ugandan Afro-optimist, an Author and the Founder of the Ideation Corner. She established the Ideation Corner, a social impact investment fund, that seeks a Uganda where every innovative entrepreneur has access to capital to scale their business. Damali’s range of expertise includes financial services, trade policy, technology, innovation, and entrepreneurship.
She is an Alumna of Harvard Business School where she specialized in Executive Leadership. Also, she holds a Master’s in Business Administration from the Grenoble Graduate School of Business in France, with a specialization in Innovation, Technology and Entrepreneurship Management. Damali is an accountant by training and a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (FCCA) and an affiliate of the Institute of Public Private Partnerships (PPPs).
She started off her career in financial services industry, in the City of London, working with one of the largest hedge funds in the world. Damali later transitioned her career into trade development and facilitation when she relocated back to Uganda in 2013 with dreams of setting up a venture capital fund to support innovative young Ugandans with seed funding.
The ambassadors have been working diligently to elevate the WEDO movement simultaneously with WEDO’s annual event which will take place officially worldwide on November 19th, 2021, and in New York City at the United Nations. Everyone will come together to join WEDO’s mission in alleviating poverty by empowering, celebrating and supporting women in business globally.
“It is inspiring to see women across the globe unite for a single cause,” said Wendy Diamond, Founder, and President of Women’s Entrepreneurship Day. “By donating their time, effort and resources to Women’s Entrepreneurship Day, they are not only celebrating, supporting and empowering women in business in over 100 countries but also contributing to global unification.”
Minus Damali Ssali, other global business leaders that have joined WEDO this year include; Anna Sui (International Fashion Designer), Her Royal Highness Princess Märtha Louise of Norway, Shanu Hinduja (Chairperson Hinduja Foundation U.S., Co-Chair Hinduja Global Solutions), Kathleen King (Founder Tate’s Bake Shop Sold to OREO giant Mondelez International for a yummy $500 million!), Eileen Murray (Co-CEO Bridgewater Associates, The world’s largest hedge fund), and Her Excellency Inga Rhonda King (Seventy-Fourth President of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) United Nations).
Building on the successes of WEDO, the WEDO Ambassadors across the globe will initiate programs, campaigns and mentorship programs with regions adopting entrepreneurial support programs that showcase new business ventures in technology, food production, fashion, retail, environmental and educational enterprises being launched.
WEDO is making a difference! Ambassador achievements include funding 500 Syrian refugee girls to attend high school in Jordan. Saudi Arabia WEDO team hosted a nation-wide entrepreneurship training program for 60,000 female college students and early-stage entrepreneurs and 25 young women received funding to launch their own businesses. In New York City at the United Nations, WEDO donated 500 microloans to impoverished women so they can start their own business. In Oman, our WEDO ambassador announced an initiative to empower women and girls by using their votes against arranged marriage. And in Uruguay, a partnership with a local university offered 20 scholarships to the girls present at the WEDO summit. Our Philippines team educated 1000 rural women with financial literacy – all over the world WEDO’s Ambassador team is making an impact!
“Empowering women worldwide and investing in their futures helps to drive and promote economic vitality and security locally and globally,” said Diamond. “Leadership skills, such as cooperation, communication, and sharing are more commonly associated with women. We want to celebrate the unwavering positives that women entrepreneurs bring to the global economy as well as inspire and support future generations of women entrepreneurs.”
About Women’s Entrepreneurship Day
Women’s Entrepreneurship Day (WEDO) will be celebrated globally on November 19th, and is the world’s largest, non-governmental, volunteer, grassroots movement and mission dedicated to celebrating, supporting and empowering women worldwide. WEDO encourages four billion women worldwide to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams, with the goal of inspiring hope and alleviating poverty.
WEDO will also launch the #ChooseWOMEN initiative on December 1, 2021 a global social media initiative and directory inspiring women and men to pledge their support to a women-owned business or cause.
Wheels to the 2021 Digital and Financial Inclusion Summit that will also feature the 8th edition of Digital Impact Awards Africa have been set in motion with the opening of all channels for submissions of entries.
The Digital and Financial Inclusion summit will explore the strategic trends and technologies that are shaping the future of Digital, Information Technology and Business with special attention to the safety of customers’ funds and security of platforms in the financial technology industry. The summit will discuss at length the disruptive impact of COVID-19 on the general business ecosystem and what players must do to recover.
This year’s summit will bring together C-Level executives that are spearheading the introduction, adoption and usage of digital and financial services across Africa. Speakers will come from multinationals, large enterprises, small and mid-sized enterprises, start-ups, informal businesses (such as market vendors and smallholder farmers) and sole proprietorships (public transport drivers/riders and e-commerce delivery agents), among others.
As such, all people interested in being part of the 2021 Digital and Financial Inclusion Summit speakers and presenters in all the aforementioned categories should email their expression of interest to socialweb@HiPipo.com before November 20th. Such a submission should include a brief about the potential panelist and why they must be shortlisted.
#DIAA2021 Nominations underway.
This call for entries thus marks the start of a comprehensive Digital Impact Awards Africa entry submission and validation process that will run until November 13th, 2021. This will then be followed by the release of a list of nominees, Jury assessment and a rollout of public voting from November 17th to December 9th.
Under the theme #IncludeEveryone, Digital Impact Awards Africa is a platform that promotes Digital Inclusion, Financial Inclusion and Cyber security. Precisely, the Awards seek to recognize, celebrate and appreciate different individuals and organizations that are spearheading the use of digital mediums to better serve their communities.
Altogether, there are 10 Africa-focused and 17 Uganda-dedicated categories as shown in the #DIAA2021 entries’ submission form.
This year’s Digital and Financial Inclusion summit will run from 9th to 10th December at Hive Colab and Mestil Hotel respectively, with the Awards gala set to be the climax of this two-day interactive, informative and intriguing activity.
The summit and awards will use 3 official tags
#IncludeEveryone #DIAA2021 #LevelOneProject
Categories
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Africa
Africa Best FinTech Innovation
Africa Best Smart Device Initiative
Africa Best Internet Access Initiative
Africa Best Mobile Innovation for Health
Africa Best Mobile Innovation for Agriculture
Africa Best Mobile Innovation for Education
Africa Best Mobile Innovation for Banking
Africa WomenInFinTech – Leadership Award (Personality)
Africa Financial Inclusion – Medal of Honor (Personality)
Africa Best Digital Response to Covid Impact.
Uganda
Financial Inclusion Excellence
Women Financial Inclusion Outstanding Contribution
Digital Banking Excellence (Online/Web, Mobile, Social Banking)
E-Commerce Excellence
Agriculture Digitization Excellence
Green Energy Excellence Powered by Financial Inclusion.
Best Digital Customer Experience
Best Brand on Social Media (Financial Services, Telecom, IT)
Best Brand on Social Media (Consumer Goods)
Best Brand on Social Media (Utilities, Government Services)
Best Digital Powered Campaign
Best Mobile Payments (Innovation)
Best Cards Payments (Innovation)
Best Community Banking
Best Digital Awareness Initiative (Financial Literacy, Cybersecurity)
