A Future Built from Within

Already, participants from Kenya, Ethiopia, South Africa, DRC, Ghana, Nigeria, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mauritius, Cameroon, Mozambique, Tanzania, and Uganda have signed up,  creating a truly Pan-African initiative that lives up to its name. Many are students and recent graduates. Others are young professionals. All are united by a desire to build what previous generations could not fully realize: climate resilience powered by African ingenuity.

The hackathon’s premise is bold and simple: African problems deserve African solutions, shaped by local context, culture, and lived experience. It taps into the same spirit that built Timbuktu, once the seat of learning and science in medieval Africa. That same brilliance now shines again in the eyes of today’s youth, but with tools of the 21st century: AI, machine learning, blockchain, and cloud computing.

Three Tracks, One Purpose

The hackathon is structured around three challenge tracks each grounded in real-world use cases that reflect Africa’s climate and energy development landscape:

1. Equitable Data Compensation for Climate Action
   Building digital tools to ensure that communities, such as smallholder farmers or waste pickers are fairly compensated for the environmental data they generate.
2. Accessible Financial Modeling for Green Entrepreneurs
   Developing user-friendly, localized tools to help small-scale energy or climate resilience ventures accurately forecast finances and attract investment.
3. AI-Powered Investment Analysis for Sustainable Development
   Leveraging AI to make smart, scalable investment assessments in regions where traditional financial data is scarce or outdated.

These challenges mirror the daily realities of communities across Africa where reliable energy access remains elusive, and climate change threatens livelihoods, health, and infrastructure. Participants are guided by mentors from across the continent — experts in climate finance, tech, data science, and entrepreneurship — ensuring each team receives relevant, region-specific guidance.

A Continental Stage for African Excellence

Spanning six weeks from July to August 2025, the hackathon progresses through three strategic phases: team formation and ideation, solution development with expert mentorship, and a final showcase. The climax will be a high-stakes in-person pitch event in Nairobi, where top teams will present their prototypes to a panel of judges, investors, and policymakers.

Prizes include cash awards of $5,000 and incubation packages for the most promising ideas. More importantly, standout participants will gain access to employment and funding opportunities through AfCEN and its partners.

But the real value may lie in what happens after the hackathon: the formation of a Pan-African alumni network, ongoing mentorship, and visibility at key climate and innovation summits — ensuring solutions don’t just win competitions, but win markets, impact communities, and transform futures.

Reclaiming Africa’s Narrative Through Innovation

For centuries, Africa has been portrayed as a continent waiting for rescue from climate disasters, from energy poverty and from underdevelopment. The AfCEN Hackathon flips that narrative.

“When you look at the creativity coming out of Nairobi, Lagos, Kigali, or Accra — you realize Africa doesn’t need to borrow imagination. What it needs is platforms like this hackathon to unleash that creativity at scale,” said Joseph Nganga, CEO of AfCEN.

And indeed, this is not the first time Africa has led global transformation. Ancient Ethiopia gave the world geometry and astronomy. West Africa pioneered pre-colonial banking and trade networks. From mathematics to medicine, Africa’s past proves its people have always been capable of greatness.

What makes this hackathon historic is that it stitches that proud legacy to a bold future — one built in Python, powered by solar panels, and financed through impact investing.

Building Now, For the Future

With registration still open and just over a week remaining, AfCEN is calling on even more youth across the continent to rise and register.

“This is your moment,” the hackathon’s welcome message reads. “Africa is not waiting. Africa is building.”

The AfCEN Pan-African Hackathon is more than a competition. It is a declaration. It says Africa’s youth are not passive recipients of development. They are the architects. The builders. The solvers.

And the future they are coding into existence may very well light up the continent – literally and figuratively – for generations to come.