About
Irembo is dedicated to harnessing the power of AI to create delightful products that meaningfully impact people’s lives. As a leading technology company in Rwanda, we are passionate about championing technology adoption and fostering the growth of a dynamic tech ecosystem. That’s why we’re beyond excited to partner with the Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution to organize the second edition of the “AI Connect Hackathon”.
This year, we invite participants to explore the vast potential of AI in solving real-world challenges. We encourage them to consider AI applications in areas like Voice AI for inclusive access, Agentic AI for automation and efficiency, and African Languages to break down linguistic barriers. Whether you’re tackling government services, education, healthcare, or commerce, we’re excited to see how AI can drive meaningful impact across Africa.
From March 28 to 30, at the Irembo Campus in Nyarutarama, 20 teams of coders and AI developers will have less than 48 hours to build AI-powered applications. Whether you’re eager to explore new possibilities or develop practical AI solutions, this is your chance to create innovative solutions for sectors such as government services, fintech and financial inclusion, healthcare, education, agriculture, smart cities, climate change, entertainment, and social inclusion.
This is your opportunity to be part of something bigger, explore new ideas, solve real-world challenges, and shape the future of AI.
The countdown is on. With just 48 hours, the question is: will your team create the next AI solution?
Key Dates
- March 22, 2025 11:59 PM: Submission deadline. Teams must have a minimum of 2 members and a maximum of 4. Participants will need to provide details of their team members (including a CV or a LinkedIn profile) and a description of their project. Apply here.
- March 23-24, 2025: Evaluation of submissions. The following criteria will be used to evaluate submissions:
- Coding experience of the team members.
- AI experience of the team members.
- The potential impact of the project on people’s lives.
- March 25, 2025: Announcement of the 20 finalists. The announcement will be made on our social media platforms (LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook), and participants will also be notified directly via email.
- March 28-30, 2025: Hackathon. The hackathon will start on Friday at 5 p.m. and close on Sunday at 09 a.m. From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., each team will do a 10-minute demo of their project.
- Global AI summit on Africa (3rd to 4th April): Awards Ceremony. After the projects are evaluated, the winners will be announced at the inaugural Global AI summit on Africa happening in Kigali, Rwanda.
Resources
Finalists will have access to exclusive tools to help bring their ideas to life, including:
- API access to the following open source LLMs: Llama 70B, Mistral Large 2.
- API access to Pindo’s speech-to-text and text-to-speech model API for voice-enabled applications.
- Exclusive access to IremboPay APIs to add payment functionalities.
- Virtual servers to deploy their application.
- Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner will be provided all throughout the hackathon weekend.
Judging criteria
- Impact. What is the project’s long-term potential for growth and ability to improve people’s lives?
- Creativity. Is the project’s concept innovative and unique?
- Technical implementation. How well has the team implemented the idea?
- Presentation. How effectively does the team demo their project?
The future of AI is closer than ever and it’s yours to shape. Join us for an unforgettable weekend of coding, collaboration, and innovation. Are you ready?
Partners
