The Africa Innovate Conference Hackathon is designed to evaluate the commercial potential and feasibility of proposed solutions addressing Africa’s critical challenges. Participants will be judged based on the following criteria:

• Unique Value Proposition: What makes the solution distinctive?
• Team Composition: Does the team have the skills to execute effectively?
• Opportunity: Market size, timing, and business model alignment.
• Context: Viability within regulatory, political, and industry frameworks.
• Competitive Advantage: Barriers to entry, differentiation, and scalability.
• Risk/Reward: Strategies to balance risks and maximize rewards.
• Structured Experimentation: Validation of key assumptions and hypotheses.
• Financial Viability: Realistic financial projections and pathways to success.
• Traction & Execution: Milestones, partnerships, or early customer traction.
• Go-to-Market Strategy: Customer acquisition and marketing/sales channels.

All of these criteria need not to be exhaustively met in order to make a solid case for a winning idea. However, a well-laid-out problem, solution and execution path will go a long way in ensuring a great presentation. Teams that have gone far in their plans including, but not limited, to having a proven technology, recruited partners, or even attracted “beta” customers may increase their probability of success. On the other hand, strong early stage ideas that have been thought through and tested will be well-received and considered based on their standalone potential and the team’s ability to execute.