An African student AI competition for real problems, with equity-free prizes.
SOLVE with AI brings together university students from across the continent to build real AI solutions to African problems — in teams of two to four, across ten categories, with $2,000 equity-free for each winning team.
African university students — undergraduate and postgraduate, across any discipline.
Two to four. Cross-disciplinary teams are encouraged.
Ten distinct categories spanning health, climate, education, governance, language, creative, and more.
$2,000 cash per winning team, equity-free. One winning team per category.
A serious AI competition for the next generation of African builders.
SOLVE with AI is our flagship student program. The goal is direct: widen real AI fluency among African students, and channel that talent toward problems that matter on the continent.
SOLVE with AI is designed for full-time undergraduate and postgraduate students at African universities. The work you submit is yours, the IP is yours, and the prize money is yours — equity-free.
Every category is anchored to a real challenge faced by people, institutions, or systems in Africa today. Submissions are judged on usefulness, evidence, and feasibility — not just novelty.
SOLVE exists to widen real AI fluency among African students. Open workshops, study materials, and mentor sessions are free to every registered participant — whether or not they reach the finals.
Ten categories. Ten winning teams.
Each category has its own brief, its own judges, and one winning team. Teams pick a single category at registration and stay with it through the build and pitch rounds.
AI for diagnostics, mental health, maternal & child health, and last-mile clinics.
Tools that improve access, retention, and quality of education from primary school to university.
AI for smallholder farming, yield forecasting, supply chains, and post-harvest loss.
Climate adaptation, biodiversity, water, waste, and clean-energy applications.
AI for credit, payments, savings, and protection in informal and underserved markets.
Citizen services, transparency, civic tech, and frontline tools for public institutions.
Models, datasets, and tools that close the AI gap for African languages and cultural data.
Movement of people, goods, and information across African cities and corridors.
AI for African creators — music, film, design, fashion, and the broader cultural economy.
Tools and research that make AI safer, fairer, and more accountable in African contexts.
From registration to continental finals.
SOLVE runs as a single annual cycle. Exact dates for each edition are announced on this page and the application portal.
Teams of 2–4 register on the SOLVE platform, choose a category, and submit a one-page problem brief.
Eight weeks of building, with weekly mentor office hours, workshops, and access to compute credits from our partners.
Country-level judging selects shortlisted teams from each participating market.
Shortlisted teams pitch live to a panel of operators, researchers, and investors. One winning team per category.
Timeline above is the standing structure — exact dates for the next edition will be published when applications open.
A few things students ask first.
Full-time undergraduate or postgraduate students registered at an African university for the current academic year. At least one team member must be enrolled at the time of submission.
Teams of two to four. Cross-disciplinary teams (mixing technical and non-technical members) are encouraged.
Each of the ten category winners receives a $2,000 cash prize, equity-free. Teams retain full ownership of their work, code, and IP. We do not take equity to participate or to win.
No. You can use any tools, models, or providers you choose, including open-source and proprietary models — as long as you can demonstrate the work is yours, and disclose any third-party components.
No. SOLVE with AI is free for students. Costs are underwritten by our ecosystem-support partners and AI-infrastructure sponsors.
Be the first to know when SOLVE with AI opens.
Registration is free and runs through the SOLVE platform when each cycle opens. Tell us who you are and we will email you the moment applications are live — students, mentors, sponsors, and university partners all welcome.
Want to back SOLVE as a sponsor or AI-infrastructure partner? Start a partnership conversation