Pan-African payments company providing a one-stop digital payments platform Cellulant has announced its partnership and title sponsorship of the inaugural Pwani Innovation Week in conjunction with Swahilipot Hub. The highlight of this partnership will include a Concept Hack where youth from across the six Coastal counties – Mombasa, Kwale, Kilifi, Lamu, Tana River and Taita Taveta are invited to register for and compete to create innovative solutions for their communities.
The Pwani Innovation Week powered by Cellulant, will feature a variety of events including a week-long exhibition, a concept hack and a keynote address from the Cellulant Co-CEO and Co-Founder, Ken Njoroge on Wednesday, 5th December. The programme will also include family, art and cultural events concluding with the annual Pwani Got Talent competition – the regions’ biggest art and culture talent showcase.
“The young people at Swahilipot and the Pwani region at large are working to develop a culture of innovation that will improve their lives and transform the region. Cellulant’s involvement in Pwani Innovation Week will go a long way in building an innovation ecosystem focused on creating and supporting new businesses across key sectors in the Pwani region”, said Mahmoud Noor, Patron and Chairman of the Board, Swahilipot Hub.
Presenting the sponsorship cheque at the official launch in Mombasa was Ms. Divine Muragijimana, Cellulant’s Chief of Brand who said: “We want to challenge the youth in the Coastal Counties to find creative and innovative solutions to everyday real-life issues affecting their community.
“At the core of Cellulant is the belief that Africans are the center of finding the solutions to the myriad of challenges that we face continent-wide. We want to engage, inspire and encourage the youth to come together and collaboratively create solutions for their everyday problems.”
“We are hosting a concept hack purposefully to encourage young people to get out of their comfort zones, think big and create innovative local solutions for each sector. In this, Cellulant brings a breadth of experience in developing solution for the right problem, at the right time_experience that we are excited to share with the participants”, Ms Muragijimana concluded.
Participants are invited to enter the concept hack and demonstrate their creativity, resourcefulness and team building skills to develop innovative solutions to everyday challenges at the Coast.
Among the objectives of the concept hack is to provide the youth opportunities to showcase a product or service concept, develop a go-to-market strategy and most importantly, stimulate creative problem-solving through collaboration. The solutions can cover any of the following key sectors – Agriculture and Agribusiness; Art, Culture and Heritage; Technology and Communication; Tourism & Hospitality; Transport & Logistics; Private sector including SME’s and the Public Sector – both National and County Governments.
The Pwani Innovation Week will take place from 3-7 December 2018 at the Kenya Coastal Polytechnic, in Mombasa County. Winners of the concept hack shall be announced and awarded at the event Gala dinner.
