INVITES APPLICATIONS FROM YOUNG INNOVATORS ACROSS AFRICA

Lagos, Nigeria – 3 February 2025 – HabariPay’s Squad, payment fintech subsidiary of Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc (“GTCO” or the “Group”), today announced dates for its annual social coding competition. Building on the success of the inaugural edition, “Squad Hackathon 2.0” is set to take place from the 13th–15th of March 2025 at the state-of-the-art GTCO Training Complex, Tayo’s Plaza, Abeokuta, Ogun State.

Launched in January 2024, Take on Squad Hackathon is designed to foster creativity, collaboration, and problem-solving skills among emerging tech talents. Competing teams will leverage Squad’s advanced APIs to create scalable digital solutions that not only improve their immediate communities but also contribute to addressing wider economic and social concerns. The second edition of the hackathon is expected to be even larger and more impactful, with expanded participation from universities across Nigeria and a broader range of impactful problem statements.
Themed “Finclusion Revolution: Unlocking Access, Empowering Communities,” this 3-day event aims to spotlight how technology can address real-world challenges that limit access to financial services in underserved communities. The hackathon will feature onboarding, team-building activities, brainstorming and hacking sessions, and solution development. By providing a platform for university students and other tertiary institution participants to showcase their IT skills, the event fosters personal growth, professional development, and network-building. Additionally, it serves as a stepping stone for young innovators to gain exposure, attract investment, and potentially bring their solutions to market.

Speaking on the upcoming Take on Squad Hackathon 2.0, Eduophon Japhet, Managing Director of HabariPay Ltd, said: “The Take on Squad Hackathon reflects our core mission of empowering businesses and young innovators. We believe that the next big breakthrough in technology will come from young minds who are passionate about solving current and emerging universal challenges. At Squad, we are not just building cutting-edge payment solutions for our clients; we are nurturing a culture of innovation and empowering the next generation of tech leaders in Africa.”

Registration for Take on Squad Hackathon 2.0 is now open for teams of four. Beyond the grand prizes—₦5 million for first place, ₦3 million for second place, and ₦2 million for third place—standout participants will have the exclusive opportunity to join the Squad.

Hackademy. This initiative, powered by Squad, provides young innovators with access to comprehensive learning resources, expert mentorship, and exclusive job opportunities within Squad’s ecosystem of partners.
Don’t miss this chance to make a difference with your squad and be part of a vibrant community of young innovators shaping the future of digital payments in Africa.

For more details and application guidelines, please visit https://squadco.com/hackathon.

About HabariPay
HabariPay Ltd is the fintech subsidiary of Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc (GTCO), one of the largest financial services institutions in Africa with direct and indirect investments in a network of operating entities located in 10 countries across Africa and the United Kingdom.
Licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), our goal is to support SMEs, micro merchants, large corporations and other fintechs (Tech Stars) with the tools they need to thrive in an evolving digital economy and expand beyond their current market reach. HabariPay’s solutions include Squad, a full-scale digital payments toolkit to make in-person and online payments simpler, HabariPay Storefront, an e-commerce website to facilitate online purchases, Value-Added Services to help merchants access cost-effective and flexible airtime and data bundles to run their businesses, as well as a switching infrastructure that enables tech-focused businesses to optimise cost and make transactions more efficient.

HabariPay’s contributions to Accelerating Digital Acceptance in Africa have not gone unnoticed–it received Mastercard’s Innovative Mobile Payment Solution Award at TIA 2022 for its innovative payment solution, SquadPOS.
About Squad.

Squad is a complete digital payments solution that is reliable, secure, and affordable, making receiving in-person and online payments simpler and convenient.

Thousands of merchants currently leverage Squad’s payment solutions for their daily business operations. Squad’s current products and service offerings include SquadPOS, Squad Payment Links, Squad Virtual Accounts, USSD, and E-Commerce Storefront.

Find out more at www.squadco.com.