One of the highlights of the Transform Africa Summit that came off from 26th to 28th April 2023 was the crowning of the winner of the Miss Geek Africa Competition. Miss Geek Africa is an innovation contest that was created to inspire girls and women between the ages of 13 and 25 to solve challenges in Africa using technology and to encourage them to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). It was created as Miss Geek Rwanda in 2014 and was expanded to become Miss Geek Africa in 2017, accepting applications from 16 additional African countries. The competition has grown since then, with over 22 African countries participating each year.

Ms. Selasi Domi-Kuwornu, a 21-year-old final-year student at the University of Cape Coast, Ghana, emerged as the ultimate winner of the keenly contested event, which took place in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, during the closing ceremony of the Transform Africa Summit 2023. Her project was judged based on the theme of the summit, “Connect, Innovate, Transform,” focusing on challenges that are unique to the African continent.
Selasi Domi-Kuwornu’s win at the Miss Geek Africa 2023 competition with her project, “Kasa-Cash”, is a testament to the power of technology in addressing the unique challenges faced by underserved and unserved communities. Her project is an offline system that enables people who are illiterate, physically challenged, or underserved to perform financial transactions without third-party assistance. This voice recognition application enables mobile money transactions in any language of choice by the user. The solution has the potential to make financial services more accessible to underserved communities and help to bridge the digital divide in Africa.

In an exciting development, on Friday, 16th June 2023, Ms. Selasi Domi-Kuwornu visited the offices of Ascend Digital Solutions Ltd. where she interacted with members of the senior management team. She was accompanied by her father Prosper Makadedzi Domi. She will be joining the Ascend Digital Solutions team in October 2023 as a National Service Personnel, working closely with our talented professionals and contributing her expertise towards accelerating Ghana and Africa’s digital transformation.

By recognizing the achievements of young women and providing them with the resources and opportunities to grow and develop, Ascend Digital is helping to bridge the gender gap in STEM fields. This also demonstrates our commitment to harnessing the skilled human resources in Africa and supporting young individuals, especially girls, with brilliant solutions to leapfrog Africa’s digital transformation.