CGAP Launches Photo and Video Contest Theme for 2018: Financial Inclusion in Africa

This year's CGAP contest is the first ever to accept short video entries

WASHINGTON, Sept. 25, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Consultative Group to Assist the Poor’s (CGAP) 13^th annual photo contest, launched today, is seeking striking images on financial inclusion in Africa. For the first time, short video submissions on Africa also will be accepted.

Entries may be submitted through December 14, 2018. Each contestant may submit up to 20 photos or videos to compete for the Grand Prize worth US$ 2,000.

This year CGAP is looking for original and compelling photographs and short videos that tell the story of how financial services empower poor people and communities in Africa. The region is a center for financial innovation -- home to M-Pesa, the mobile money service launched a decade ago now replicated across markets worldwide; host to vibrant FinTech and e-commerce companies; and to a growing off-grid sector that leverages digital finance.  Together these innovators contribute toward lifting many thousands of households from poverty.  For these reasons, CGAP this year is putting a lens exclusively on Africa for its contest. Entries should show how financial services expand opportunities and enable Africans to build sustainable livelihoods.

The 2018 contest is open to both amateur and professional photographers and videographers who can visually capture three key areas:

1. Reaching Excluded People: Mobile phones open markets and access to services for people who are isolated or live in remote communities. Entries in this category should show how digital finance creates new opportunities for excluded Africans.
2. Brighter Prospects for Young People: There are 600 million people in Africa under the age of 25, and 72 percent of them are unemployed. Submissions in this category should show how financial services can spur entrepreneurship among Africa’s youth.
3. Digital Finance and Development: Innovative technologies and finance together offer new solutions to address chronic problems such as access to water, energy, and health care. Entries in this category should show ways that financial services are helping advance the Sustainable Development Goals in Africa.

“CGAP’s photo contest provides a way for people across Africa to express, through their own lens, the rich diversity of this dynamic continent, where transformative innovations in financial inclusion are happening,” says CGAP’s CEO Greta Bull.  “We look forward to submissions that capture in a powerful way both the challenges and opportunities of extending financial services to all.”

The Grand Prize winners, one each in photo and video, will be awarded US$ 2,000 certificates for photography or video equipment. Additional winners in each of the three categories will receive gift certificates for up to US$ 1,000. In addition to the categories listed above, a People's Choice Award will be given to submissions that receive the most votes online.

All entries must be submitted by 23:59 GMT/18:59 US EDT on December 14, 2018.

For contest details, including eligibility criteria, please visit: http://photocontest.cgap.org

View last year’s winning entries: https://cgap.exposure.co/2017-cgap-photo-contest

About CGAP
The Consultative Group to Assist the Poor is a global partnership of more than 30 leading organizations that seek to advance financial inclusion. CGAP develops innovative solutions through practical research and active engagement with financial service providers, policy makers, and funders to enable approaches at scale. Housed at the World Bank, CGAP combines a pragmatic approach to responsible market development with an evidence-based advocacy platform to increase access to the financial services the poor need to improve their lives. Find out more: http://www.cgap.org

For more information:

General inquiries: Koi Gouahinga | fgouahinga@worldbank.org

Media inquiries: Esther Lee Rosen | erosen@worldbank.org

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