Maria Luzinda (2nd R), a second-year student at Makerere University pursuing Computer Science and her co-developers pose for a photo moment upon emerging second in the 2022 MTN MoMo Hackathon in Kampala for the MpaMpe Startup
MpaMpe is a digital hybrid crowd-funding application that seeks to bridge the gap between the needy or campaigners and funders or sponsors to support their ideas through a transparent model and accountability of funds.
Founded in 2021 by five Makerere University students: Maria Luzinda, Emmilly Immaculate Namuganga, Angella Bukirwa, Paul Jeremia Mugaya, and Ronnie Atuhaire, MpaMpe locally means “Give Me I Give Out,” and is expected to help tackle local community needs countrywide.
The app emerged second out of 12 teams that participated in the recently held second edition of MTN MoMo Hackathon, with the developers rewarded with US$3,000 to facilitate the commercialization of the solution.
Maria Luzinda, a second-year student at Makerere University pursuing Computer Science and a co-developer of the application says the solution intends to solve challenges that people go through to fundraise for a particular need.
“We have seen people with placards on the streets and others pushing posters via social media seeking financial support to address a particular course. We believe that with Mpa Mpe we shall be able to link those who are in need of the funds and the donors with a lot of ease,” she says.
“The app shall enable the person in need to reach out to so many people through various channels such as social media, digital marketing, and so many other platforms.”
She says the system is currently web-based but plans are underway to incorporate a USSD option to widen participation with all the collected funds transferred to the beneficiary mobile money account.
Luzinda says any persons seeking support will need to reach out to them via email or phone calls, and state their problem which is later verified, approved, and posted on the platform.
Following MTN MoMo’s reward, she says their next focus is to complete app development, do registration and officially unveil the platform by June next year.
Luzinda’s co-developer Ronnie Atuhaire says they believe MpaMpe will be at the forefront of fintech inclusion in Uganda’s transforming societies.
“We are solving for about 7 goals from the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals and our mandate is to be a part of the change that will see Uganda move to middle-income status in a few years to come,” he said.
He said they participated in this year’s MTN MoMo Hackathon with only one hope of connecting, being mentored, networking, connecting, and with a winning mentality.
“We are glad that we made it top 3 being the first runners in an intense Hackathon full of great ideas and startups,” he said.
The MTN MoMo API hackathon launched in 2018 enables developers in Uganda to create an app that can process financial transactions, with added capabilities that go beyond processing payments to accelerate financial inclusion.
The initiative is also open to developers based on other African countries including Rwanda, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, eSwatini, Congo Brazzaville, Guinea Conakry, Zambia and Benin with the aim of offering financial and transactional applications innovations using the MTN mobile money (MoMo) API platform.
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