Join the largest community of problem-solvers, visionaries, creative thinkers and Innovators in Africa, at the annual Hackaholics Ideathon, and together, let's catalyze change with the enabling power of Technology
ABOUT HACKAHOLICS
Largest Youth-focused Ideathon in
Sub-Sahara Africa
Hackaholics is Wema Bank’s open innovation challenge, designed to empower problem-solvers, startups, and tech enthusiasts. This year, we’re introducing two exciting tracks:
- • The Hackathon – Where developers and tech teams build innovative solutions in a fast-paced coding competition.
Over the past years, the bank has consistently demonstrated its commitment to fostering innovation, nurturing young talent, and driving cross-generation digital conversation through our flagship event–Hackaholics 4.0. With a population of over 250 million young Africans enrolled in universities across Africa, we envision a chance to establish a strategic advantage by spearheading the rise of budding unicorns, techpreneurs, and innovators within these academic institutions.
The Hackaholics Digital Summit, established as Africa's premier ecosystem gathering, is set to encourage innovation, collaboration, and the progress of technology. We're thrilled that this gathering will unite thousands of exceptional individuals, including innovators, change-makers, industry luminaries, and tech enthusiasts from diverse sectors.
Moruf Oseni
MD/CEO, Wema Bank
CHALLENGE AREAS
We are poised to exploring divergent
tracks for innovative solutions
BENEFITS
Here’s why you should not miss this
Cash Prizes & Funding
Win exciting cash rewards of up to N200M to scale your solution.
Mentorship from Industry Experts
Gain insights from top professionals in banking, fintech, and technology.
Access to Bank APIs & Tech Tools
Leverage cutting-edge technology to build and test your solutions.
Recognition & Exposure
Showcase your innovation to key industry leaders and decision-makers.
Internship & Job Opportunities
Stand a chance to join Wema Bank’s innovation team.
Career & Networking Opportunities
Connect with Wema Bank, investors, and tech enthusiasts.
Over ₦150M in Cash Prizes Up for Grabs!
PROGRAMME STRUCTURE
The Road to the Grand Finale
Stage 1
Application Phase
The journey begins here! Developers, designers, and problem-solvers from across the country can apply to be part of Hackaholics.
Stage 2
Regional Preliminaries
Shortlisted teams will compete in different regions, refining their solutions under mentorship from industry experts.
Stage 3
Final Day Demo
The best teams from the regional preliminaries will present their solutions to a panel of judges, including top executives, and tech leaders.
Stage 4
Grand Finale
Winners receive cash prizes, funding, and mentorship. Outstanding solutions may be considered for further development with Wema Bank.
PITCH CENTERS
Gear up, Hackaholics is coming to a location near you
South-West
• Lagos
• Oyo
• Kwara
• Ondo
• Ekiti
• Ogun
South East
• Enugu
North-West
• Kaduna
North-Central
• Abuja
South-South
• Akwa-Ibom
Africa
• Nairobi, Kenya
• Accra, Ghana
HISTORY
Our Journey so far
2019
How We Started?
Following the success Wema bank recorded after we launched ALAT, we thought to take a step further to help the tech ecosystem build and launch the next most innovative solution that would come out of the shores of Africa. - Hackaholics was born. Hackaholics was birthed in 2019 to bring together a community of fintech to solve industry-identified problems. It is beyond doubt that innovative solutions from these fintech companies, when adopted, will help improve efficiency in process, ensure customer loyalty and drive profitability for various businesses.
2019
Hackaholics 1.0
The maiden edition of Hackaholics was held in 2019. We received over 200 applications with only 20 participants shortlisted to hack for solutions within the three-day event to pre-identified problem areas.
2021
Hackaholics 2.0
“Hackaholics 2.0- was themed Connecting Worlds” , The virtual pitch event was organized in collaboration with “Venture Garden Group/Green House Capital”.About 580 application entries were received across five verticals which exceeded 2019’s volume by 150%. We shortlisted twenty (20) startups and tech solution providers who pitched their various solutions that would be changing the face of five (5) different sectors - financial service, health, gaming & betting, agriculture, and education in Nigeria and across Africa. At the end of the Day 2 of the pitch event, ten (10) winners emerged who qualified for the acceleration BootcampAt the end of the acceleration Bootcamp, four(4) startups were awarded over #2,000,000.00 each as support funds to scale their businesses following their outstanding performance during the program.
2022
Hackaholics 3.0
“Hackaholics 3.0- was themed The Future is NOW”. We received over 900 Entries across FUTA, BABCOCK, UNILAG, AAUA, KWASU, UNIABUJA, UI, FUOYE, and JABU.[23,000 Students in total] Participants were selected based on preset criteria and invited to pitch at designated pitch centers which included FUTA, BABCOCK and UNILAG. At the end of each pitch event, a total of 9 Teams, who had the most innovative and interesting ideas across Health, Lending, Education, Financial Inclusion, Education, SME, NFT & Blockchain Technology were shortlisted.
2023
Hackaholics 4.0
To explore limitless opportunities in emerging technologies, while leveraging our neo-bank proposition in massively acquiring the students and youth eco-system, deepen the bank’s brand and position the brand in attracting and retaining tech talents. We would be visiting 11 Campus across Nigeria engaging over 100,000 Students
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions