Digital Financial Services Lab (DFS Lab) which has invested in several companies including Ghana’s Inclusive, Kenya’s Pezesha and Pula and Uganda’s Malako is calling for applications for its next hackathon in Tanzania in April.
Interested applicants can apply on the DFS Lab website here.
The hackathon will hold in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania April 8 to 12 and will offer participants an in-depth look Mojaloop, an open-source software for financial services companies, government regulators, and others taking on the challenges of interoperability and financial inclusion.
According to Jake Kendall, Executive Director of DFS Lab, “We’re excited to host this hackathon in Tanzania and work with cutting edge startups using technology to help expand financial services.”
Mojaloop is open source software for real-time payments clearing and settlement. Mojaloop was created by the Gates Foundation’s Level One Project, which is aimed at leveling the economic playing field by crowding in expertise and resources to build inclusive payment models to benefit the world’s poor.
To achieve interoperability, which is necessary for financial inclusion, DFS Lab aims to see how fintech startups can use Mojaloop to achieve interoperability.
“We’re looking for fintech companies and other innovators who recognize that switch based mobile money interoperability is coming and want to work with us to build the next generation of features and products that this enables,” Jake added.
Mojaloop is being used to enable interoperability in several projects in Africa, notably by Mowali, a new joint venture between MTN and Orange. This hackathon will allow fintech companies to get on board, develop and test innovative use cases for Mojaloop.
“Interoperability of digital payments is one of the biggest challenges for the financial services industry, but it is also a powerful and logical way to increase financial inclusion,” said Konstantin Peric, Deputy Director of Financial Services for the Poor at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.