MTN Nigeria, in partnership with the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) through its local partner, the Nigeria Conservation Foundation (NCF), has announced the commencement of the Nigeria PachiPanda Challenge.
This was made known in a statement by Tobe Okigbo, the Chief Corporate Services and Sustainability Officer, MTN Nigeria.
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Okigbo said that the Africa PachiPanda Challenge was designed to stimulate and champion innovative solutions that address urgent environmental challenges across the continent.
“The Nigeria PachiPanda Challenge is a call to young visionaries and youths aged 16 years to 35 years in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to conceptualise and develop pioneering solutions to environmental challenges specific to Nigeria.
“Nigeria is brimming with young talents, who are eager to make a difference.
“The Nigeria PachiPanda challenge is a golden opportunity for these bright minds to channel their creativity into tangible solutions that can reshape our environmental landscape for the better,” he said.
According to Okigbo, the Nigeria PachiPanda Challenge is more than a competition, rather it is a movement that motivates participants to think unconventionally, craft solutions that address immediate environmental challenges.
The MTN executive said the challenge would also play an active role in ensuring the long-term sustainability of communities.
“Participants can either be individuals or teams, each comprising up to three members.
“The top ten finalist teams will embark on a transformative 3-day sprint event, immersing themselves in a human-centred design process.
“There will be a pitch session where teams present their solutions to a panel of industry experts,’’ he said.
According to him, the winning teams from the Nigeria PachiPanda Challenge will then move to the grand stage, competing against other winners from participating countries in the Africa PachiPanda contest.
The Director-General, NCF, Dr Joseph Onoja, said that collaboration was the cornerstone of impactful change.
Onoja said that by joining forces with MTN, NCF aimed at amplifying the voices of youths and turning their innovative ideas into actionable solutions that could safeguard the planet for future generations.
