PalmPay Nigeria has awarded 10 young and outstanding Nigerian women six-month internship placements with the fast and reliable payment app, offering them professional exposure, mentorship, and long-term career and leadership positions in the Financial Technology (fintech) industry.

The 10 lucky women were selected from a total of 100 young women who were short-listed through a competitive application process for this year’s PalmPay Purple Woman 3.0 Tech Masterclass, an event which was part of the International Women’s Day (IWD) 2026, reinforcing PalmPay’s commitment to bridging the gender gap in the fintech space.

The 3-day Tech Masterclass, which ran from March 5 to 7, 2026, was structured to provide young women aged 18 to 30 with practical and employment-focused skills and career pathways, reflecting the theme of this year’s IWD, ‘Give to Gain,’ through direct investment in female talent.

The 10 lucky women who will not just be trained but trained for employment, include Tiwalolaoluwa Olaolu, Temitope Adeyemi Adebimpe, Moyosoreoluwa Rebecca Fatodu, Hamzat Funmilola Kudirat, and Felix Divine.

Others are Ekwe Loveth Chinemerem, Mbara Stephanie Amarachi, Adebayo Ifeoluwa, Olapite Oluwadolapo, and Chinyere Ifeabunike.

Speaking at the programme’s grand final in Lagos, over the weekend, the Managing Director of PalmPay Nigeria, Mr. Chika Nwosu, said the 10 women awarded with internship opportunities in PalmPay will, for six months, undergo on-the-job training, after which their performance will be evaluated.

He explained that PalmPay Masterclass, now in its third edition, started three years ago with a vision to empower women.

“Our vision is to create a financial ecosystem that is more inclusive, accessible, ensuring that young women become leaders in the digital economy. We have trained women in Human Resources (HR), Data Analysis, Software Engineering, and Digital Marketing,” he said.

The PalmPay boss stated that the company recognises that technology is a powerful enabler, noting, however, that for too long, women have been under-represented in the fintech and the tech industry.

“That is why PalmPay is committed to breaking those barriers and creating a pathway for women to thrive in the world of finance and technology,” he said, adding, “At PalmPay, we don’t just imagine a future where women are leading in tech; we are actively building it.”

The MD reiterated that PalmPay Masterclass initiative came up because the company noticed that there are few women in the fintech industry and it intended to bridge the gap. “So, we want to see a whole lot of women in leadership position in fintech, where about 17 per cent are said to be women.”

“We believe that if we can empower more women in the society, definitely the society is going to be better. We’re going to see a lot of children go to school because their mother has a lot of exposure. So, we want to see our young women succeed in Nigeria and other parts of the world,” he said.

Also speaking, HR Manager at PalmPay, Mr. Iwuala Anthony, said the company believes in equality and following the right process. “As a company, we believe in people who have skills. We believe in talent, so we ensure that we select people who are qualified,” he said.

Explaining the selection process, which he described as “very clear” he said selected participants went through the classes and wrote test. According to him, there was test for every class. He said although, a lot of people passed, only the top 10 were selected.

“For the six months, we are going to draft these 10 people to the several departments, just like we have done in the past. We have departments that we are selecting like HR, Admin. Products, Sales, Business Intelligence. So, we put these 10 women, assign mentors to them and these mentors are going to give them on-the-job training for six months,” Anthony said.

He stated that “over the years, all the 10 women we have taken, we trained them and employed them. The Purple Women 2.0 programme, the 10 women we took and trained, we employed them and gave them full employment in PalmPay. They are still working with us currently, and these ones will not be different.”