By Kadiri Abdulrahman
Abuja, Dec. 19, 2025 – In a strategic move to bridge Nigeria’s digital divide and cultivate tech talent from the grassroots, HitchPay, the Africa-focused payment platform, has launched a comprehensive financial-inclusion initiative at the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) orientation camp in Iseyin, Oyo State. The program specifically targets newly enlisted corps members, a critical demographic poised to serve in communities across the nation.
Announced by Chief Operating Officer Ms. Eunice Bankole, the initiative is far more than a standard corporate social responsibility project. It represents a multi-pronged strategy combining immediate financial tooling with long-term career development. “We are proactively bridging the gap for corps members who will be posted to underserved communities often lacking traditional banking services,” Bankole stated. “By equipping them with digital financial literacy and tools, we empower them to be agents of economic inclusion in their places of primary assignment.”
The rollout involved three core components designed for maximum engagement:
- Brand Activation & Financial Tooling: HitchPay staff conducted live demonstrations of instant app registration, frictionless fund transfers, and real-time transaction validation. This hands-on approach is crucial for overcoming the initial hesitation many have with digital finance, providing immediate, practical value.
- Digital Career Fair: Moving beyond transactions, the initiative offered tangible career pathways. Internship opportunities were presented in software engineering, product design, management, customer success, and marketing. “This aligns with our vision to move young talent directly from campus into the high-growth tech sector,” Bankole explained, addressing Nigeria’s urgent need for skilled tech professionals.
- Sponsored Camp Integration: To embed their message within the camp’s social fabric, HitchPay sponsored key events like the ‘Miss Big, Bold and Beautiful’ pageant and the Culture and Carnival Day. These were not merely sponsorships but integrated educational platforms. Carnival Day featured sessions on practical topics like overseas payments and dollar savings, while the pageant included live demos of cross-border payments, USD virtual cards, and instant currency swaps—tools essential for a globalized economy.
The Oyo State deployment is explicitly designed as a pilot for a nationwide rollout across all NYSC camps. This scalability underscores a strategic recognition of the NYSC scheme as a unique, year-round pipeline to reach Nigeria’s educated youth at a formative moment, just before they disperse nationally.
Ms. Prisca Onyemaeme, Marketing Director of HitchPay, framed the partnership in broader terms: “We have harnessed the incredible energy of the youth corps for national cohesion. Our goal is to support hassle-free, global payments to build Nigeria’s digital future, starting with its future leaders.”
The event drew dignitaries including the NYSC Camp Director, Commandant Ikusemoro Taiye, and representatives from the Nigeria Police Force, NDLEA, NSCDC, and various NYSC departments, signaling institutional endorsement.
Feedback from participating corps members confirmed the initiative’s impact, with many noting it significantly broadened their awareness of both digital financial tools and potential tech-career pathways they had not previously considered. By addressing immediate financial inclusion needs while simultaneously investing in long-term human capital development, HitchPay’s model offers a replicable blueprint for how fintechs can contribute meaningfully to socioeconomic development beyond mere customer acquisition.
Edited by Funmilayo Adeyemi
