The Cortex Hub has announced the launch of the MCP Hackathon Africa 2025, a continent-wide initiative designed to embed African languages, culture, and priorities into the next generation of Artificial Intelligence.
Running across more than 40 cities from September to November 2025, the
eight-week program will unite developers, researchers, startups, and students
to build practical solutions using the Model Context Protocol (MCP), an emerging open standard that enables
applications to deliver structured, locally relevant information to large
language models. The hackathon will culminate in a continental showcase in Cape
Town on 11–12 November 2025, where finalists will present to investors,
incubators, and technology leaders from across the globe.
The MCP Hackathon Africa 2025 is a strategic effort to ensure Africa
plays a leading role in shaping the infrastructure of Artificial General
Intelligence. By contributing African languages, legal systems, and development
priorities to MCP servers, participants will help safeguard digital sovereignty
and reduce dependence on closed technologies.
Participants can join local hubs in more than 40 cities spanning across Southern Africa including South Africa, Namibia, Angola, Mozambique, Zambia,
Zimbabwe, Botswana, Malawi and Mauritius; West Africa, including Nigeria, Ghana, Togo, Liberia, Côte
d'Ivoire and Senegal; Central Africa,
including Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC); East Africa, including Kenya,
Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Ethiopia; and North Africa, including Morocco and Egypt where they will access bootcamps,
mentorship, peer collaboration, and technical resources including starter code
repositories and MCP documentation to support their builds. Innovation tracks
will focus on telecommunications, financial technology, agriculture, logistics,
and public services, addressing practical challenges from empowering
smallholder farmers with real-time information, to strengthening secure payment
systems, to designing logistics platforms that support cross-border trade.
A total prize pool of US$9,500 will be awarded, with a grand prize of US$5,000
for the best overall solution, US$3,500 USD for outstanding innovation, and US$1,000
for excellence in execution. Winners will also gain visibility at AfricaCom,
one of the continent’s largest technology events, where they will present their
work to investors and industry leaders.
Andile Ngcaba, Patron of The Cortex Hub, said, “The Model Context
Protocol is Africa’s opportunity to move from being consumers of AI to creators
of the standards that govern it. By coding MCP servers for our towns and
cities, participants will be embedding African contexts, cultures, and
priorities into the very fabric of AI’s evolution.”
MCP Hackathon Africa 2025 is supported by leading technology partners
including TESPOK, Seacom, Mauritius Telecom, CSquared, Solcon Capital, and
Datacentrix, reflecting a shared commitment to advancing Africa’s digital
future. Developers, students, researchers, and startups are invited to register
now at https://www.jotform.com/form/252522409410548
Group CEO of
Datacentrix, Ahmed Mohamed: “The Model Context Protocol (MCP) is the glue
that transforms abstract algorithms into situated intelligence. By coding MCP
servers for your towns, you are not just writing software - you are inscribing
African contexts into the very fabric of AI’s evolution. At Datacentrix, we
believe that responsible leadership in the digital age requires us to reimagine
business and society through a technology lens. MCP is a practical step towards
ethical, contextualized AI that is built with Africa’s realities in mind. By
taking ownership at the protocol layer, we can shift from consumer to creator,
embedding resilience, innovation, and our collective values into the very core
of global AI.
“Datacentrix’s
sponsorship of the MCP Hackathon reflects our ongoing, long-term commitment to
cultivating local talent, fostering African innovation and, ultimately, helping
to shape a digital future where our continent is not on the sidelines but at
the very centre of global AI development.”
Dr Fiona
Asonga, CEO of TESPOK: “This hackathon provides a great opportunity for the
youth of Kenya and East Africa to test their skills in Artificial Intelligence,
such as building AI Agents, Agentic AI, and MCPs.”
Alpheus
Mangale, Group Chief Executive Officer of Seacom: "the new AI frontier where artificial intelligence evolves from code to consciousness, the youth of Africa stand as pivotal architect,
your participation in this pan-African hackathon to
construct Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers is not merely
technical labor; it is the forging of cognitive infrastructure that will bind
real-time intelligence to the lived experience of our cities, transforming
abstract algorithms into contextually grounded knowledge.”
Veemal
Gungadin, Chief Executive Officer of Mauritius Telecom: “At this moment in the digital epoch, real-time Artificial
Intelligence through AI Agents is the frontier of human-machine
symbiosis. This Model Context Protocol (MCP) hackathon
spanning 40 African cities is a call to younger generation, equipped
with both local insight and acumen, is poised to write the next
chapter of AI’s story, where context
is not an afterthought, but the foundation of its vitality.
Africa must not be a follower but a leader in AI.”
Ian Paterson,
CEO of Csquared: "The era of AI Agents, Agentic AI, and Super Agents
has arrived. It is on our doorsteps. The internet will never be the same again.
AI Agents and Model Context Protocols will drive AI and the connectivity
ecosystem." Pramod Venkatesh, CEO of Solcon Capital: “As the world experiences an explosion of
Agentic AI, it is critical that Africa develops its own sovereign AI
capabilities to ensure technological independence, security, and cultural
relevance.
Model Context Protocols (MCPs) will play a pivotal role in this journey
by enabling African-built models and AI agents to access diverse local data
sources, integrate seamlessly across systems, and deliver context-rich
insights. That is why Solcon Capital is proud to sponsor the upcoming MCP AI
Hackathon—bringing together innovators, developers, and researchers to build
the foundations of Africa’s sovereign AI future.”
