The Georgetown Africa Business Conference convened leaders from across Africa, to showcase the growth and impact of the private sector across the African continent, and to facilitate discussions around the opportunities to continue previous success. The Global Human Development Program sponsored the Georgetown Africa Business Conference, and some GHD students participated and volunteered at the event.
Maputi Botlhole, GHD ’20, referred to as the “friendly smile by the stairs” at the conference, managed three panels on the topics of strategic consulting, innovative finance, and disruptive technologies. She was the point of contact for panelists; connecting with moderators and making sure that each of the panels she managed flowed smoothly. During the event, Maputi was able to connect with the head of partnerships and expansion at Flutterwave Inc, Ms.Omosalewa Adeyemi, about mobile payment solutions for the second iteration of an app that she co-developed with Oluwatoni Fuwape. Exposure to the Flutterwave platform aided in envisioning easier in-app purchases, and processing of transactions across Sub Saharan Africa – including mobile money payments.
The mobile application that Maputi co-developed is called “Kujua” which is Swahili for “to know,” and it is a pocket of information on issues of consent, relationship dynamics, sexual and reproductive health targeting adolescents and young adults. During user workshops in South Africa, and information gleaned on the social media feature of the app: users expressed a desire to purchase healthcare commodities through Kujua, so knowledge of a payment solutions platform such as Flutterwave Inc., will definitely help in assessing the implementation of in-app purchases, especially for users in sub Saharan Africa – and eventually other corners of the world.
Maputi’s team has been trying to implement in-app purchases that would make sense for Sub-Saharan Africa and be favorable to mobile money and their users. The Georgetown Africa Business Conference brought Maputi, Ms.Omosalewa Adeyemi, and Flutterwave Inc. together to explore options and potentially partner together on a kickstart campaign.
The conference allowed many GHD students, like Maputi, to connect with leaders in Business and discuss innovative solutions to issues they are passionate about with other students, leaders, and faculty at Georgetown University.