BACKGROUND
A Physical & Virtual Hackathon Event to address the dominance of cash
transactions, manual processes, and access to financial services among retailers,
micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) as well as individuals in
suburban parts of Nigeria including university communities and its environs.

PROBLEM STATEMENT
1. IDEAL:
An interconnected, integrated, and all-inclusive ecosystem of Nigerian citizens with requisite services that enable individuals, retailers, small businesses to transact with one another seamlessly on a daily basis using digital channels. The digitisation of key sectors such as education, health, financial services and
transportation in a manner that makes them all-inclusive, improving access, removing barriers and lowering costs thereby achieving social, digital and economic inclusion. Cashless suburban communities such as tertiary institutions and their environs. Consequently, activities that include buying and selling of goods and services, savings, investing, remitting money and commuting from place to place are done digitally without requiring cash.

2. REALITY:
According to a report by EFInA in 2020, only 64% of Nigerians were financially included whilst 36% of Nigerian adults (38 million adults) are financially excluded. Even though 51% of Nigerian adults use formal financial services, a good number of them are under-banked because the services are not tailored to their needs.

Consequently, business transactions are largely denominated in cash within the informal channels. The cost of financial services is still quite high and hence unattractive, especially to the poor, the lack of trust in formal banking channels, ATMs, and also the lack of proximity to bank agents or bank branches in some communities.

3. CONSEQUENCES:

• Cash remains the preferred and dominant option for micro and small businesses, retailers, entrepreneurs, and individuals in the suburban areas and thus value chain integration will not be maximized.
• Low adoption of financial services will have a negative impact on the financial inclusion drive.
• Opportunities for businesses to scale are minimal as access to credit is limited given the challenges associated with manual processes for cash transactions. This also has a negative socio-economic impact on the nation.

4. PROPOSAL:
A simple and easy-to-use innovative solution best suited for the unbanked and under-banked communities to address the dominance of cash, manual processes, and ease of access. Your solution should address at least 1 sector and you will be solving the problem of cash dominance, access to the services in that
sector, and manual processes e.g.

• Financial services (Fintech sector): - you will be addressing any of the problems associated with buying and selling, savings, investment, and credit. How do we reduce the use of cash in buying and selling? How do we address financial inclusion problems here?
• Transportation sector: - you will be addressing the dominance of cash collections and the integration of a digital system. What will make regular transporters adopt a cashless system?
• Education sector- Can we have a learning-on-the-go solution that campus students and lecturers’ community will gladly embrace? How do we digitise education? Can the education sector become more inclusive?
• Health sector- How do we resolve the challenges with access to affordable healthcare, how do we reduce self-medication? How do we digitise the healthcare services making it more efficient?

BACKGROUND
A Physical & Virtual Hackathon Event to address the dominance of cash
transactions, manual processes, and access to financial services among retailers,
micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) as well as individuals in
suburban parts of Nigeria including university communities and its environs.

PROBLEM STATEMENT
1. IDEAL:
An interconnected, integrated, and all-inclusive ecosystem of Nigerian citizens with requisite services that enable individuals, retailers, small businesses to transact with one another seamlessly on a daily basis using digital channels. The digitisation of key sectors such as education, health, financial services and
transportation in a manner that makes them all-inclusive, improving access, removing barriers and lowering costs thereby achieving social, digital and economic inclusion. Cashless suburban communities such as tertiary institutions and their environs. Consequently, activities that include buying and selling of goods and services, savings, investing, remitting money and commuting from place to place are done digitally without requiring cash.

2. REALITY:
According to a report by EFInA in 2020, only 64% of Nigerians were financially included whilst 36% of Nigerian adults (38 million adults) are financially excluded. Even though 51% of Nigerian adults use formal financial services, a good number of them are under-banked because the services are not tailored to their needs.

Consequently, business transactions are largely denominated in cash within the informal channels. The cost of financial services is still quite high and hence unattractive, especially to the poor, the lack of trust in formal banking channels, ATMs, and also the lack of proximity to bank agents or bank branches in some communities.

3. CONSEQUENCES:

• Cash remains the preferred and dominant option for micro and small businesses, retailers, entrepreneurs, and individuals in the suburban areas and thus value chain integration will not be maximized.
• Low adoption of financial services will have a negative impact on the financial inclusion drive.
• Opportunities for businesses to scale are minimal as access to credit is limited given the challenges associated with manual processes for cash transactions. This also has a negative socio-economic impact on the nation.

4. PROPOSAL:
A simple and easy-to-use innovative solution best suited for the unbanked and under-banked communities to address the dominance of cash, manual processes, and ease of access. Your solution should address at least 1 sector and you will be solving the problem of cash dominance, access to the services in that
sector, and manual processes e.g.

• Financial services (Fintech sector): - you will be addressing any of the problems associated with buying and selling, savings, investment, and credit. How do we reduce the use of cash in buying and selling? How do we address financial inclusion problems here?
• Transportation sector: - you will be addressing the dominance of cash collections and the integration of a digital system. What will make regular transporters adopt a cashless system?
• Education sector- Can we have a learning-on-the-go solution that campus students and lecturers’ community will gladly embrace? How do we digitise education? Can the education sector become more inclusive?
• Health sector- How do we resolve the challenges with access to affordable healthcare, how do we reduce self-medication? How do we digitise the healthcare services making it more efficient?