The 11th edition of the annual GirlCodeHack brought together young women from eight African cities: Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, Nairobi, Kampala, Dar es Salaam and Gaborone, for a 30-hour hackathon that championed cross-border collaboration and highlighting the value of diverse perspectives in technology.
Under the theme “Future-Proofing Africa: Innovation at the Intersection of Fintech, Cybersecurity, and AI”, and provided women pursuing careers in technology with hands-on experience and the opportunity to develop solutions that address real-world challenges.
The South African leg of the hackathon showcased exceptional talent, with participants creating innovative solutions that contribute to Africa’s digital and economic growth with women participating in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban.
Each city awarded winning teams prizes, including Johannesburg’s TechGurlies, who impressed with FinLit GPT, a solution tackling youth debt by promoting financial literacy and empowering young people to make informed money decisions. The team members were Nombali Mafa and Skyler Suru.
In Cape Town, Ndlela developed AI Career Coach, an intelligent platform that helps users navigate career planning and upskilling through personalized, AI-driven guidance. The team was made up of Awonke Ntshonga, Zoë Bulle, Khanyisa Hebe, and Khanyisile Sefalane.
Meanwhile, in Durban, CyberShield Africa introduced Rural Cyber App, a tool designed to strengthen cybersecurity awareness and protection in rural communities, helping close the digital safety gap. The team members were Keemiya Chetty and Ishta Mahadew.
The grand prize of R100 000 was awarded to Tokiva Sisters from Tanzania for their solution PayNest, which is a biometric budgeting and payment app that unifies all your wallets-bank, MNO’s into one secure system. It uses biometric authentication to help users plan, pay and grow their finances safely. The team members are Saraphina Mtonyole, Pendo Apolinaly Holela, Beatrice Alfred Benedict, and Maryam Mohamed.
“Tokiva Sisters impressed with a forward-thinking solution aimed at empowering young people to take charge of their finances. In a country where many under 35 face mounting debt pressures, their innovation focuses on improving financial literacy and helping youth make smarter, more informed financial decisions.” says Zandile Mkwanazi, founder and CEO of GirlCode. “Their creativity, skills and sheer dedication to seeing the project through despite gruelling competition and long hours show the remarkable talent young women are bringing to tech, and it’s exciting to see how their project can possibly make a tangible impact in real life.”
Tamu Dutuma, head of strategy and transformation at Absa Regional Operations, comments: “It was truly inspiring to witness how participants tackled the same challenge from diverse angles, each bringing fresh insights and bold, innovative thinking. This is the power of inclusive innovation. At Absa, we believe that empowering women in tech and embracing diverse perspectives is not just a value, it’s a catalyst for meaningful change across Africa’s tech landscape.”
GirlCodeHack’s reach continues to expand across the continent, the goal of this expansion, says Mkwanazi, is to ensure that young women are positioned to participate actively in Africa’s digital economy.
“This year’s hackathon showed exactly how collaboration can drive innovation. Young women shared ideas, learned from each other and developed solutions that address real challenges. We saw young women building skills, confidence and networks in real time, that will continue long after the event, and that perfectly illustrates our goal in expanding access to the hackathon,” she says.
Mkwanazi adds that the event emphasises representation and safe spaces, recognising that young women thrive when they can see leaders who have navigated similar challenges. Moreover, she highlighted the important role that corporate partnerships such as Absa Bank, Vumatel, MTN, NinetyOne, iKhokha, Orange Cyberdefence, VML, Mint Group, Sap Fioneer, Entelect and Old Mutual play in unlocking these opportunities, providing not only funding but mentorship, internships, and career pathways.
“Investing in young women’s skills is investing in Africa’s future. Every project developed and every opportunity provided at GirlCodeHack contributes to building a generation of tech leaders capable of addressing the continent’s most pressing challenges,” she adds.