The Africa Deep Tech Challenge 2025 is now live. It invites talented developers, engineers, and visionaries across the continent to design powerful solutions that thrive under constraints. Powered by Future Africa and supported by Ilorin Tech Hub, CcHub, and IHS, this pan-African challenge seeks to elevate resource-constrained computing into Africa’s next wave of innovation.
Why Join the Africa Deep Tech Challenge 2025?
Africa Deep Tech Challenge 2025 goes beyond code, although that’s part of it. Instead, this unique hackathon encourages participants to build functional, real-world prototypes that solve Africa’s complex challenges, especially where access to power, data, and computing resources is limited.
Whether through low-power AI, offline-first apps, decentralized infrastructure, or edge computing, this challenge empowers creators to reimagine innovation through limitation. In doing so, it fosters scalable ideas that can improve sectors like healthcare, education, agriculture, fintech, and smart cities.
Challenge Details and Eligibility
- Deadline: July 31, 2025, by 2:00 PM PDT
- Location: Online | Open to select countries
- Who Can Apply: Individuals above the legal age of majority
- Theme: Resource-Constrained Computing
- Prize Pool: $20,000 in total
What to Build and Submit
Participants of the Africa Deep Tech Challenge 2025 are required to develop a working prototype demonstrating a clear use case and efficient performance in limited environments. Each submission must include:
- Functional prototype or demo
- Detailed project report with context, constraints, and benchmarks
- Short video (2 minutes max) explaining the build and journey
- Screenshots and updated documentation (if advancing to the next rounds)
Prizes to Power Your Potential
1st Place: $8,000 + Mentorship + Investment Access
2nd Place: $5,000 + Post-Challenge Support
3rd Place: $3,000 + Exposure + Community Access
Special IHS Power Prize ($4,000) for energy innovation in telecom and infrastructure
Each winner receives equity-free grants, tailored mentorship, and direct entry into a deep tech investor pipeline. Additionally, finalists will benefit from media features, continued visibility, and support from Africa’s leading innovation ecosystems.
Evaluation Criteria
Judges will assess entries based on:
- Technical Implementation (30%)
- Creative Problem-Solving (30%)
- Process Documentation (20%)
- Tool Orchestration (10%)
- Usability & Relevance (10%)
A panel of expert judges, including Omoju Miller, Alex Tsado, Silas Adekunle, and Judith Okonkwo, will guide the final selection process. If you’re passionate about tech and eager to shape Africa’s future through scalable, efficient design, the Africa Deep Tech Challenge 2025 offers the perfect launchpad. This isn’t just a competition, it’s a movement to harness constraint as a catalyst for creativity and change.
Apply now to join Africa’s most visionary developers redefining what’s possible.
