OPay, a leading fintech company in Nigeria, has announced the selection of the top 48 teams for the next stage of the OPay National Innovation Challenge, following an overwhelming response from students across Nigeria.
The National Innovation Challenge is one of the three flagship initiatives under the newly expanded OPay Scholars Programme, alongside the ₦1.2 billion, 10-year scholarship initiative and OPay Futures. The programme reflects OPay’s long-term commitment to supporting education, innovation, digital skills development and youth empowerment across Nigeria.
In a bid to win a share of the ₦18 million prize pool, receive career mentorship from industry leaders, and gain access to learning opportunities designed to help them build practical technology-driven solutions to real-world challenges, applications for the National Innovation Challenge opened on May 25 and closed on July 3, attracting more than 2,200 team applications from over 11,000 undergraduate students representing tertiary institutions across the country.
Following a rigorous first-round evaluation based on the originality, quality, relevance and potential impact of the solutions submitted, 48 outstanding teams have been selected to advance to the next phase of the programme. The selected teams comprise 24 from OPay’s partner tertiary institutions and 24 from non-partner institutions, demonstrating the programme’s commitment to providing opportunities for talented students across Nigeria, regardless of institution or location. Each team consists of five students from the same tertiary institution.
The successful teams will now participate in a six-week virtual learning and mentorship programme, where they will engage with experienced professionals and industry experts from OPay,
