A host of Nigerian tech entrepreneurs have teamed up to crowdfund a COVID-19 relief fund to help Nigerians in financial difficulties as a result of the pandemic.
Individuals from the likes of Paystack, Hygeia HMO, Zedvance, Accounteer, Future Africa, Hotels.ng, Zrosk and Bento, who describe themselves as “better angels” have launched We Are Together in response to the socio-economic issues being caused by efforts to prevent the spread of the virus in Nigeria.
Describing themselves as “tech entrepreneurs who cannot sit by and do nothing while the world falls apart”, the group said they are using technology developed for their companies and leveraging the power of networks to crowdsource a fiscal stimulus for Nigeria.
We Are Together accepts donations from donors and redistributes them directly to people in need of financial support. Nigerians in financial distress can apply to receive NGN10,000 (US$25, and can reapply every three weeks.
At the time of writing the platform had raised NGN13.5 million (US$35,000) from 132 donations, and disbursed NGN8.5 million (US$22,000) to 849 recipients. The group said it was not building a company, charity or NGO, and planned to stop the initiative by December 2020. Donations can be made here.
