Mara Launches Blockchain Competition To Inspire African Developers
Mara, a Pan-African blockchain platform has announced the launching of its competition, which will commence on the 17th and end on the 26th of September 2022, The competition is titled “Hack The Mara”, it is in line with its determination to motivate African developers to “build the future of Africa on Web3”.
Mara Hackathon aims to attract participants to invent broadcast applications that will provide tenable solutions to aid last-mile payment tracking.
Although prototypes, the suggested solutions are expected to empower the financial sustainability of the proceeding projects such as “Mara for better livelihoods”.
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Process Of The Competition
“Hack the Mara” will be divided into five stages, with the first taking place online and the final one in person, in Kenya. The top 8 teams will be invited to Kenya, to physically hack the Mara, they will also be hosted at Ishara situated in Masai Mara National Reserve.
Kate Kallot, Co-founder and Chief Impact Officer at Mara, Kate Kallot, explained that “Blockchain for social impact is at the heart of everything we do at Mara. Through our non-profit foundation, our aim is to empower problem-solvers to build blockchain solutions which promote long-term beneficial, social and environmental change in Africa”.
The developers will be challenged to use Blockchain, through USSD and Kenya’s M-Pesa for transparency in payment. The Vice President of Ecosystem Marketing, Developer Relations, and Ecosystem Relations at Circle, Sandra Persing, stated in a quote “Developers are core to what we do at Circle. We hope to see more technical breakthroughs that make financial services more inclusive, efficient, and scalable. We are excited to give African innovators an opportunity to build solutions that may change the world and certainly the world of finance”.
The suggested solution will be appraised by judges based on Creativity, Originality, Strategic thinking, Analytical Skills, and Practical implementation of the solution.
Grand Prize.
The team with the winning solution will be given the opportunity to participate in the Antler Nairobi Program. This will enable them to put more work into their prototyped solution, thereby developing it into a business with the capacity to receive investment.
In addition, financial awards will be given to the top solutions, to the tune of One Hundred Thousand Dollars, $100,000, as funds, they will also be given the opportunities for follow-on funding in the future by Mara Foundation and some of Its partners.
In his remark, Co-founder and CEO at Mara, Chi Nnadi, stated “Blockchain has the potential to take financial services and last mile payment solutions to new heights. With a direct focus on solving real local challenges, these innovators may create globally relevant solutions and drive the future of finance”
Hack The Mara’s registration closes on the 5th of August, African Innovators, and Developers are encouraged to register on Mara Foundation’s website to participate.