Dengu

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  Dengu chatbot

Inspiration

The name Dengu comes from the traditional Zimbabwean basket used to collect and carry harvest. That image stuck with me, it felt like a perfect metaphor for how we carry and grow financial knowledge. In many African communities, especially among youth, there's a huge gap in financial education. People hustle every day but often lack the tools or information to make smart money decisions. I wanted to create something practical, local, and youth-friendly. That’s how Dengu was born: a chatbot built for African financial realities.

How we built it

The Dengu Bot was built using Python, Flask, and Twilio’s WhatsApp API. I trained it with locally relevant Q&A—covering savings, mobile money, student hustles, scams, and budgeting. The idea was to create a fast, clear, and practical tool that works over WhatsApp where most youth already spend time.

Challenges we ran into

Localizing responses was tricky getting the tone and scenarios right took lots of tweaking. I also had to overcome Twilio’s initial account restrictions and figure out how to make the chatbot respond naturally without relying on large-scale AI models.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

What we learned

I learned how to combine tech and culture—how coding can actually serve local stories and needs. I also deepened my understanding of user experience on limited data devices, and how to build for people who might not be tech-savvy. Most importantly, I learned that relevance beats complexity. Simple, relatable answers can change someone’s financial habits more than a complex app ever will.

Built With

• flask
• python
• twilio