Kenyan Innovators Set to Compete at the Continental Hackathon

Four smart young women from Kenya are about to compete at the big Continental Hackathon after winning the national round of the Absa Bank Kenya-GirlCode Women-in-Tech Hackathon. These Kenyan innovators set to compete at the Continental Hackathon created a special app called ‘Jasho-Powering Your Hustle’. This app uses artificial intelligence to help people working in gig jobs and those with disabilities manage their money better. It tracks how people spend money in real time, gives personal financial advice, and protects against fraud. It even has voice commands and facial recognition to help everyone use it easily.

This year, 112 women aged 18 to 35 joined the hackathon to solve problems using new technology. The theme was “Future-Proofing Africa: Innovation at the Intersection of FinTech, Cybersecurity, and AI.” They had only 30 hours to build their solutions. The event is all about giving women digital skills and encouraging them to create safe, smart solutions for Africa’s future.

The Kenyan innovators to compete at the Continental Hackathon are proud to represent their country. Their project fits well with Kenya’s goals like helping young people, including everyone in the digital world, supporting new businesses, and building a strong economy. Now, Team Avytria will compete with teams from Uganda, Tanzania, South Africa, Botswana, and Ghana at the continental finals, showing how Kenya is leading the way in technology.

Charles Wokabi, who is in charge of sustainability and corporate affairs at Absa Bank, spoke at the awards. He praised the creativity and hard work of all the teams, saying they solved real problems like financial inclusion and cybersecurity. He added that the winners would get tools like hardware and software to keep learning and improving their ideas.

On top of that, the best three teams will join an incubation program by Absa Kenya Foundation and ALX. This program gives them office space, advice from mentors, and help to turn their ideas into real businesses. They will also learn how to grow their business and find investors to support them.

The winner at the pan-African level will get a grand prize of $5,500 (around KES 700,000). The hackathon is growing fast — last year, 280 women joined from nine cities, and this year over 450 women from seven cities are participating. This shows that more and more young women across Africa want to create technology and solve problems.

Zandile Mkwanazi, the founder of GirlCode, shared why this hackathon is so important. She said it helps fix the problem of few women working in tech by giving them a chance to show their skills. It’s a great place for talented young women to work together and make technology that really helps their communities.

The judges in Nairobi included important leaders like Muthoni Kanyana, CEO of MK-Africa; Lucy Mbuthia, Country Manager of Women in Tech Kenya; and senior people from Absa Bank Kenya like Mumbi Kahindo, Moses Okundi, and Seline Awuor.

Kenyan innovators set to compete at the Continental Hackathon like Team Avytria show that Kenya has amazing talent ready to change lives with technology. Their work proves that tools made with care and smart technology can help everyone, even those who face challenges. As they get ready to join the final hackathon, these young women inspire many others to rise up and be part of Africa’s growing tech future.

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