Entries open for the 10th MTN Business App of the Year Awards

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MTN logo Photo by Gift Ndolwane, CAJ News Africa

For immediate release

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa – 7th JUNE 2021, –/ Centre for African Journalists (CAJ News) – THE MTN Business App of the Year Awards, now in its tenth year, has officially opened entries for aspiring entrepreneurs and digital innovators across the country.

This year’s edition comes with the exciting extension of the App Academy to include youth from across Africa to participate in this dedicated app development and coding initiative that forms part of the App of the Year Awards 2021 edition.

Last year, MTN launched the MTN Business App Academy to mentor and upskill aspiring talent for a career in app development in South Africa and this year the App Academy is open to the youth across the continent. The upskilling and nurturing of new talent was done through a six-week online coding programme which fed into a new category for the app awards, specifically for the developers who went through the academy.

This year this initiative widens its doors to invite youth from all over Africa to showcase their talent, to learn, and to grab this opportunity to create innovative apps for our society and their businesses. In 2021, the Campus Cup Challenge has been created to engage students at Universities, FET Colleges and other institutions of higher learning and encourage entries into the new Campus Cup category.

“The MTN Business App of the Year Awards eco-system continues to evolve and expand. It is now a Pan African initiative focused on producing the highest caliber of cutting edge and market-ready solutions. At the same time, we are building and deepening a future pipeline of digital brilliance to ensure Africa, its people, communities and the economy can harness the full benefits of the digital economy and the fourth industrial revolution,” says Kholo Magagane, Head of Marketing, MTN Business.

As part of the drive to grow an inclusive digital eco-system, the top three apps from the MTN Business App Academy will be assisted to develop their apps into fully fledged solutions. A go-to-market strategy will then be devised to implement the solutions, with MTN Business assisting them to identify a customer, or customers, that are faced with problems that the market-ready solutions can solve.

The number of submissions has increased year-on-year since inception, with over 700 entries received in 2020 and we are hoping to discover and nurture more tech talent across the continent.

The coveted prize for the overall MTN Business App of the Year winner (or winning team) is a trip to a tech-related destination to the value of R200 000. The top three ‘Best Campus Cup Solution’ entrants will each receive a share of R100,000. The prize for this category award will be split – R50 000 for the first-place winner, R30 000 for the second-place winner and R20,000 for the third-place winner.

The full App of the Year Awards category list is:

Best Enterprise App
Best Consumer App
Most Innovative App
Best Gaming App
Best Financial App
Best Educational App
Best Women in STEM
Best Incubated Solution
Best Health Solution
Best Agricultural Solution
Best Hackathon Solution
Best South African App
Best Campus Cup Solution (18 – 26 years of age, from the MTN Business App Academy)
Huawei Category 15

It is anticipated that this year’s awards event will once again bring together a combination of more than 1,000 techies, leading app developers and key industry stakeholders.

The six-week App Academy will conclude with a 72-hour virtual “hackathon”, where participants will use their new knowledge and skills to develop their solution, with a team of tutors on hand to assist. The solutions coming out of the hackathon will be entered into the ‘Best Campus Cup Solution’ category as well as the Best Hackathon Solution and will be part of the overall judging process.

“We are looking forward to one of our best years yet as we broaden the ICT eco-system well beyond South Africa. I encourage all aspiring innovators and techies from across the continent to enter and showcase their talent as we, together, expand and develop the ICT industry in a meaningful way,” concludes Magagane.

To enter, app developers can submit their entries before 27 July 2021 by going to: appoftheyear.co.za. The awards ceremony will be streamed lived on 26 August 2021.

Updates on the competition will be posted on @MTNBusinessZA on Twitter. Anyone interested in participating in the conversation can follow #mtnappawards

Distributed by Centre for African Journalists (CAJ News) on behalf of MTN.

ISSUED BY:
Leigh-Ann Chetty, Senior Manager: Public Relations, MTN SA
Cell: 083 209 1310
E-mail: Leigh-Ann.Chetty@mtn.com

Mthokozisi Ndlovu, Manager: Communications and Public Relations, MTN SA
Cell: 083 209 2683
E-mail: Mthokozisi.Ndlovu@mtn.com

About the MTN Group
Launched in 1994, the MTN Group is a leading emerging market operator with a clear vision to lead the delivery of a bold new digital world to our customers. We are inspired by our belief that everyone deserves the benefits of a modern connected life. The MTN Group is listed on the JSE Securities Exchange in South Africa under the share code ‘MTN’. Our strategy, Ambition 2025, is anchored on building the largest and most valuable platform business, with a clear focus on Africa. www.mtn.com

Visit us at www.mtn.com or www.mtn.co.za
Follow us on Twitter @MTNza

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