With great emotion, but ready to jump for joy, Selasi Ama Domi-Kuwornu received her Miss Geek Africa award on April 28 during the Transform Africa Summit (TAS2023). But the young woman will hold back out of modesty and respect for her fellow contestants, the 6 other contestants from different countries across the continent.
A Miss Geek is selected at each edition of the TAS. An initiative born in Rwanda in 2019 to promote girls in the ICT sector, initially in the country of the thousand hills, before being extended to the whole continent.
The competition is open to females between the ages of 13 and 25, who must submit a technology-based solution aimed at solving the basic challenges facing the continent.
Applicants for the 2023 edition will have gone through a tough ordeal. Selected for the 2020 edition, which was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they will have had to wait three years to finally present their project to a panel of experts.
The next step is to work with investors and partners to make this project a reality
A solar solution, another to prevent suicide, another to prevent accidents in mines… Projects that respond to needs identified in their community and for which the girls will have applied technological solutions. It is Domi-Kuwornu Selasi’s project that convinced the jury.
« My project is an application that aims to create financial inclusion for the illiterate and disabled, bridging the gap between the banked and the unbanked in society, » says the 21-year-old final year student at the University of Cape Coast, Ghana. What makes it special is that the application works without the use of the internet. This is essential for reaching isolated populations.
« The next step is to work with investors and partners to make this project a reality, » she hopes. She is encouraged by the visibility that the Miss Geek Africa title brings.
Meanwhile, the young woman has returned to Ghana with her prize of $5,000 USD, a laptop, a smartphone, an invitation to attend GITEX Africa, some business cards, and dreams full of ideas…
By DBM
