26-year old Ivory Coast technology entrepreneur, Charlette N’Guessan, bagged the Royal Academy of Engineering’s Africa Prize for innovation with a £25,000 award won by N’Guessan and her team for their invention- BACE API.
BACE API is a software that enables digital verification by the optimization of identity management platforms using cutting edge technology in facial recognition and artificial intelligence.
The technology is also designed to specifically identify Africans remotely and in real-time by matching live photos with images on documents like passports.
It further resolves the inability of some existing facial recognition technology to recognize black faces.
The Ghanaian company also partners with a data controller handling certified government-issued identity documents with access to Ghanaian passports and other identity documents to use during its verification processes.
Financial Institutions, Companies, and Event Platforms have also begun the use of the software in their verification process.
Her passion for technology was inspired by her father who is a Mathematics Professor who encouraged her interest in science, and she has always performed well as a STEM student after which she pursued a degree in Software Engineering.
N’Guessan describes this feat as her team’s “contribution as software engineers and data scientists by building a solution that can be useful for this market,”.