By Henry Obetta

Nigeria’s oldest indigenous national bank, Wema Bank has announced the 7th edition of its flagship innovation initiative, Hackaholics, as part of its commitment to powering innovation, empowering youths and promoting economic prosperity.

The bank made the announcement on Wednesday during a press conference which took place at Wema Bank Head Office in Lagos.

Themed “Powering Possibilities”, Hackaholics 7.0 will kick off with an open call for applications, calling on all young Africans with creative tech-driven solutions across any of the 7 verticals: Financial Inclusion, Healthcare, Digital Transformation, Education, Sustainability, Social Impact and Future of Work.

Speaking on the Bank’s inspiration behind Hackaholics’ exceptional seven-year journey, Wema Bank’s MD/CEO, Moruf Oseni, said: “At Wema Bank, we believe that institutions have a responsibility that extends beyond providing commercial services. We have a responsibility to create meaningful opportunities, provide the right resources, enable innovation to thrive, and support the ecosystems that will shape today’s youth as well as tomorrow’s economy.
“This sense of responsibility is what has driven the evolution of Hackaholics from inception till date. With Hackaholics, we have, and we are investing in the next generation of innovators, inspiring innovation that will impact lives, strengthening Nigeria’s innovation ecosystem and giving youth a platform to make meaningful use of their creativity; and the numbers continue to speak volumes.”
The bank added that applications are to be made via the portal at hackaholics.wemabank.com, under one of three tracks: The Startup Pitch Competition, Hackathon and the newly introduced Social Impact track.
Declaring the application window open, Tajudeen Bakare, Wema Bank’s Divisional Executive, Business Support, said: “As we launch Hackaholics 7.0 today, we are opening up a new phase of opportunities for more Nigerian youth to challenge themselves, explore their creativity and become startup founders.
“I encourage every young Nigerian with a passion for innovation to leverage the opportunity that we have carefully curated through Hackaholics and get ahead of the curve in today’s dynamic work landscape. Together, we can continue to build an ecosystem where innovation flourishes, opportunities expand, and young people are empowered to create solutions that shape the future.”
Each application is to be made via the portal at hackaholics.wemabank.com, under one of three tracks: The Startup Pitch Competition, Hackathon and the newly introduced Social Impact track.
Following the application window, Hackaholics 7.0 will then proceed on a national tour which will touch 10 pitch centres across the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria. Each pitch centre will serve as a hub for innovators within the region to pitch their creative solutions and get the opportunity to secure the top spot in their pitch centre, and ultimately, proceed to the grand finale where the winners of Hackaholics 7.0 will be announced.
Since its launch, Hackaholics has discovered thousands of groundbreaking solutions, supported over 10,000 startups, engaged 50,000 participants, developed over 100 solutions from scratch and disbursed $500,000,000 in grant prizes to dozens of winners whose remarkable solutions have earned a top spot in the past 6 editions.