A team of Ashesi students won first place at the Payaza Fintech Connect event on Monday, October 28th in Accra. Payaza, a fintech company dedicated to ensuring seamless, secure transactions across Africa, the US, and Canada, also hosted a fintech masterclass, a career session, and a panel of industry experts in addition to the fintech competition. Keren Grant ’25, Papa Yaw Boampong ’26, Paa Kwesi Ofori-Voetagbe ’25, Benedicta Lomo ’25, and Anne Bukari ’26 made up the Ashesi team. 

The competition’s participants were tasked with designing an innovative fintech project that would provide small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with accessible and affordable financial services, simplify financial transactions, and promote financial inclusion.  

The Ashesi team’s winning solution empowers SMEs to efficiently manage their finances and to reinvest in their businesses with a two-pronged focus: saving and loans. Their app included a component which reimagined the savings process with the introduction of gamification and interest-earning features. It also included a crowdfunding platform that allows SMEs to access capital through loans or equity. 

The students competed against peers from ALX; University of Cape Coast (UCC); Valley View University; University of Professional Studies, Accra; and Ghana Communication Technology University in the Booming Banana Business: A Fintech Challenge. Acting Head of the Economics and Business Administration Department Anthony Essel-Anderson, Associate Professor Disraeli Asante-Darko, and Assistant Director of Outreach and Experiential Programmes Jude Samuel Acquaah offered guidance and feedback to the students as they worked on their project.