Speaking at the opening event, Anita Twum-Ampofo, Head of Technology and Service Management at Absa Bank Ghana, urged the participants to think beyond coding and focus on impact, legacy, and the millions of lives they could touch. "You are the architects of this future," she said.

Madam Twum-Ampofo emphasized the importance of designing financial tools that met the needs of everyday people, citing examples of the market woman in Tamale, the student in Lusaka, and the farmer in Kisumu, Kenya. "FinTech is not just about mobile money or digital wallets, it's about access," she added.

Robert Kuzoe, Senior Manager for MTN Ghana Foundation, highlighted the foundation's goal of empowering young women in soft skills, especially in the engineering space. "We are passionate about women breaking grounds in male-dominated industries," he said.

Mr Kuzoe added that the foundation aimed to equip the youth with employable skills, saying, "Our goal is to empower the youth, acquire soft skills for them to be employable themselves, not looking out for maybe white-collar jobs."

David Narh, Manager for Digital Growth at MTN Ghana, stressed the need for tech solutions to solve real problems in communities and encouraged participants to solve the problems in their various communities where you lived.

The participants would be judged on innovation, technical execution, impact, and presentation, with the best group winning a reward from MTN Ghana. The event was part of MTN's efforts to promote digital inclusion and empower the youth.