After weeks of stiff competition between some 200 female contestants who entered the maiden Miss Geek Ghana 2019 competition, 10 young ladies have made the final cut and will be going head-to-head to determine the winner this week.
Miss Geek Ghana, which forms part of the Innovation Africa 2019 Summit, is slated for the plush Movenpick Ambassador Hotel in Accra on December 5, 2019.
Unlike several other strictly-female competitions, which usually focus on the looks of the ladies, Geek Ghana is a purely brain power contest, where the girls are required to design and present technology-based solutions to real national development problems.
The young ladies, aged between 13 and 25, were required to design technology-based solutions in the form of Apps and programs that either address untapped needs that have not been uncovered, improve initiatives by others or is an unusual service/product that has not been traditionally offered in the industry.
The 200 initial entries were screened to 75, which was further reduced to 13 after going through various aspects of the competition, then to the final 10 which will run head-to-head in the grand finale.Â
The top-ten concepts competing for the juicy prizes are CropApp, by Audrey Boateng, Pregta App (Pregnancy App) by Molly Esi Sutherland, Autmoflex Technologies by Zita Ursula Zage, Smart Insecticide Bulb by Abigail E.D. York, and Kasa-Casy System by Domi-Kumowu-AmaSelasi.
The rest are Terminal 3 by Precious Appiah, Health Stats by Freda AduAmankwah, Digital Literacy by Shirley Amenyah, Findrapidly by Rebecca Gagblezu and Cineplex by Atta Abdul KarimNajilauDramundu.
Organizers of Miss Geek Ghana, Ministry of Communications indicated the winner will walk away with a cash prize of GHC10,000, a laptop, internet connection for one year, assistance to develop concept into a prototype, and she will also represent Ghana at the Miss Geek Africa Competition in Guinea, Conakry.
The first runner up gets GHC7,500, a laptop, one year’s internet connection, and assistance to develop concept into a prototype, while the second runner up gets GHC5,000 plus everything else the first runner up gets. The remaining seven finalists will get GHC2,000 each.
According to the Communications Ministry, the main objectives of Geek Ghana is to create a high awareness and encourage girls /women into science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) within the next five years, and to show that individual girls and women can develop IT based concepts and solutions to address social issues in Ghana and beyond.
The Ministry said the competition was also designed to inspire 2% of girls/women across Ghana to solve challenges in the country using technology annually, promote innovation among 20% of Ghanaian girls in STEM annually, and contribute to the attainment of SDGs Goal 1 – No Poverty, Goal 2 – Zero Hunger, Goal 5 – Gender Equality, Goal 8 – Decent Work and Economic Growth and Goal 10 – Reduced Inequalities.
Sponsors for Miss Geek Ghana are National Communications Authority (NCA), MTN Ghana, Westblue, Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications (GIFEC), Internet Solutions and Joy FM.