Four Nigerian Girls Win 2015 Global Technovation Challenge

Posted by Odinaka on Fri 10th Jul, 2015 - tori.ng

Team Nigeria which comprised of 4 brilliant girls, have emerged winner in Technovation Challenge world pitch which held at San Francisco, USA.

From L-R: Praise David-Oku, Sonam Kumar, Nmesoma Ogbonna, Grace Akpoiroro,

Grace Ihejiamaizu receiving award as 2015 global winner of Technovation Challenge.

The 2015 Technovation Challenge which was held at San Francisco, USA, which 64 countries participated and 380 apps submitted, 10 teams from all over the world were given the opportunity to explain their project in form of a pitch and tell their app story in a creative way after life-changing workshops including a networking session, Team Nigeria has emerged the winner!

The winning team comprised of 4 brilliant girls: Praise David-Oku, Sonam Kumar, Nmesoma Ogbonna, and Grace Akpoiroro as they developed a mobile app to tackle waste disposal challenge in Nigeria. They pitched their app called, ‘Discardious’.

Founder of WITIN and Coordinator of the program in Nigeria, Mrs. Martha Alade, enthused that this years’ team was exceptional and has done Nigeria proud. Their solution solves a major problem in Nigeria. This is the first time a Nigerian team would come first globally in Technovation World Pitch.

International Exchange Alumni and founder of iKapture Networks, Grace Ihejiamaizu, who mentored the winning team said they faced a lot of challenges on their way to success but overcame.

One of the team members, Praise David-Oku, who spoke for the team, said the competition has totally changed their views of technology.

"It has given our team a platform to use technology to solve problems in our community. It has also motivated us to think outside the box. It has boosted my self-confidence and helped me build new relationships and networking skills. I have met new people from different parts of the world and shared ideas. It has also made me realize that I am not too young to start achieving my goals."

Sonam, one of the team members said:

"It was wonderful, tough and very competitive. It was challenging for us, as we met and listened to people from different parts of the world tell their stories and share their powerful ideas. Above all, we learnt a lot of things about coding, networking and public speaking. Overall, it was a very wonderful experience."

The team unanimously professed that this is only the beginning of something big.

“We are going to empower, build and guide young girls to participate in the next Technovation competition. We will launch our app and work on our project to solve pressing challenges in Nigeria. Technovation in Nigeria has come to stay for good”.