A 25-year-old Psychology graduate of the University of Ghana, Razak Issaka, has been adjudged the overall winner of the MTN Apps Challenge season V.
Apart from that, he was also awarded the winner of the Animation Video Category for which he took a certificate, Huawei plaque and amount of GHS20, 000.
His App “Aluta-Man Must Chop” is an animated video which tells an exciting story of an ambitious and energetic young man called Aluta who is simply trying to survive as he hustles through the streets of Accra.
Razak Issaka, who walked home with a total of GHS40, 000.00 after being awarded the winner of the video animation category, said it was a life-changing moment for him.
He noted that he will venture into professional coding and programming because of the joy and satisfaction he derived from putting pieces of ideas together into useful mobile Apps.
He indicated that his next project would be an educative video animation that would sensitize the public against the abuse of tramadol, adding, “this award would inspire me to do greater works that will solve real societal problems while educating the youth to maintain the standards of being good citizens.”
Mr Noel Kojo Ganson, the Acting Chief Marketing Officer of MTN Ghana, said the MTN Apps challenge, since inception five years ago, has given several Ghanaian youth the opportunity to develop and take up challenges in the economy.
He said apps had been influencing lives and creating economic empowerment across the country and the continent.
He explained that MTN in view of that was championing a project for women in technology, where young girls received mentorship from women in ICT working in this organisation and MTN in line with women in ICT project, had included the Best Female Developer Award Category, a category that had seen the submission of some intriguing projects.
72 apps are from freelance and seven from Senior High Schools (SHS). These apps were put through a rigorous selection process and only 24 projects made it to the final auditions.
Other category winners include Sario Mobile App (Lifestyle), Transgov Mobile App (Business), Atsu Mobile App (Games & Enterprise), Memoria Mobile App (Education), Smart Traffic Control (Internet of Things), Kaya App (Best Female Project), and SHS Mobile App won by Accra Presbyterian Boys Secondary School.
By Wisdom Jonny-Nuekpe
