LONDON – Cassava Fintech International (CFI) has launched a new #African&Talented promotion aimed at identifying and supporting talent across Africa through the Sasai App, with the top winner walking away with a huge cash prize.
The Sasai App, which was first launched a year ago by CFI, recently unveiled an innovative hybrid social media platform called Sasai Moments that makes it easy for anyone to connect and share memories with family and friends on their mobile phones. Of all the features introduced on the App to date, Sasai Moments has been proved to be an instant hit.
Launching the #African&Talented promotion, Sasai Chief Operating Officer Tapera Mushoriwa said there are many young people in Africa who are very talented but do not have a platform to freely express themselves and showcase their talent.
“We are inviting all Africans to showcase their talent on Sasai Moments – for free. This becomes the first digital talent marketplace in Africa, where the talented can showcase talent and scouts can identify the talent they want,” he said.
“Contestants stand a chance to win weekly prizes ahead of a grand draw. There are up to 10 talent categories to choose from to showcase the best of African talent,” Mushoriwa said.
The promotion, which will run for about five weeks, will see various youths on the continent showcasing their talents on Sasai Moments in categories such as music, dance, poetry, spoken word, drawing, painting, photography, sports, comedy, acting, fashion and beauty, as well as an open category.
Under the #African&Talented promotion, contestants are expected to create their own content and post it on Sasai Moments. In addition, content creators can then invite their friends and family to like their content as a way of voting for them.
Mushoriwa noted that contestants need a minimum of 100 likes for them to be eligible to win the grand prize of US$10 000.
“There will be prize giveaways of US$100 per person to the individuals with the most likes in their category per week. They automatically qualify for the grand prize draw and then at the end of the competition, the weekly winner with the most likes across all categories walks away with US$10 000,” he said.
Sasai is a uniquely African, all-in-one super App with chat, payments and digital marketplace features. Although developed primarily for Africa by Africans, the App – which can be downloaded from the Google Play Store or from the Apple App Store – is now already being used in over 180 countries around the world.
Experts believe that the #African&Talented promotion will help youths in Africa to use their talents for more inclusive economic growth across the continent.
According to the African Development Bank (AfDB), of Africa’s nearly 420 million youth aged 15-35, one-third are unemployed and discouraged, while another third are vulnerably employed and only one in six is in wage employment.
“The consequences of youth unemployment in Africa are pervasive and severe: unemployment translates to poorer living conditions, fuels migration out of Africa, and contributes to conflict on the continent itself. Above all, youth unemployment constitutes a failure to capitalize on one of the continent’s greatest assets for growth: its large and growing population of talented young people,” said the AfDB.
There is therefore an urgent need to create opportunities for youth, with tremendous potential impact. Addressing the multi-faceted causes of youth unemployment on the continent will help drive inclusive economic growth, turning Africa’s passive demographic group into an economic one.
