Ms. Geek Africa 2025 Challenge
Theme: AI for Africa: Innovate Locally, Impact Globally
Ms. Geek Africa 2025 invites girls aged 13–21 from Smart Africa Member States to take part in a competition that celebrates innovation, leadership, and the power of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to shape Africa’s tech future by young African women.
1.0 About Ms Geek and Transform Africa Summit
Ms. Geek Africa is a flagship initiative under the Girls in ICT Rwanda and supported by Smart Africa and other partners. It was launched in 2014 to inspire African girls to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), and to solve pressing development challenges through innovation. Originally conceived in Rwanda by Girls in ICT Rwanda, the competition has grown into a continental platform that celebrates the ingenuity and potential of young African women.
Held annually during the Transform Africa Summit (TAS), Ms. Geek Africa offers a prestigious stage for girls aged 13–21 to pitch technology-driven ideas/solutions to African problems across different sectors. The initiative has become a symbol of what’s possible when girls are empowered with knowledge, resources, and platforms to lead in tech and innovation.
Ms. Geek Africa is a flagship initiative by Girls in ICT Rwanda (GIICTR) jointly delivered with Smart Africa’s Smart Women and Girls in ICT Initiative as a TAS activity. It aims to inspire and empower girls aged 13–21 across Africa to develop solutions to solve local and continental challenges by leveraging science, technology, and innovation.
The competition began in Rwanda in 2014 as Ms. Geek Rwanda, exclusively targeting Rwandan youth. In 2017, through a strategic partnership with Smart Africa, the program expanded to include all Smart Africa Member States, making it a truly pan-African platform for nurturing girl-led innovation. This led to the launch of Ms Geek Africa competition.
Over the years, Ms. Geek has served as a launchpad for emerging young female tech innovators, offering them visibility, mentorship, and tangible opportunities to develop their innovative ideas into solutions into real-world projects.
2.0 Ms Geek 2025 Edition Challenge:
The 2025 edition is aligned to the TAS2025 theme “AI for Africa: Innovate Locally, Impact Globally,” which calls on all African young women and girls to propose bold, AI-powered solutions to some of the continent’s biggest challenges.
Through this competition, finalists will not only gain visibility and mentorship but also take part in TAS 2025 in July 22 – 24, showcasing their ideas to global leaders and changemakers.
Are you a girl aged 13–21 from a Smart Africa Member State with a bold idea to solve a problem using Artificial Intelligence?
Pitch your AI-powered solution to transform your community, your country—or even the continent!
2.1 Your challenge:
How can Artificial Intelligence be used to solve a big problem your community/ country/Africa faces today?
Your solution should clearly:
• Identify the specific problem you want to solve and who it affects. It can be in health, education, agriculture, climate, governance, security, safety, finance, or another sector.
• Explain how you are using AI technology to solve the problem.
• Show/explain how your solution would work (through text and a simple graphic).
• Describe what is needed to implement or scale it.
You can submit your solution as:
• A well-thought-out idea
• A prototype
• A working or ready product
2.2 Requirements
1. Your submission must be 500 words or less and describe the problem you want to solve, how your solution will solve it, have a conceptual design, specify what technology you are using or can be used to develop it, who your key stakeholders are, and how the solution will be shared.
2. Your solution must be original or an innovative improvement of an existing one.
3. A graphic drawing of your solution should accompany your submission, demonstrating how it works, and an example of the user interface
4. All submissions must be sent to msgeekafrica@smartafrica.org
3.0 Eligibility Criteria
Applicants must be girls aged 13 – 21 years old
Must be a national of a Smart Africa member state.
Deadline
• All submissions must be received by May 16, 2025
• Member states must submit their selected candidate by May 31, 2025
4.0 How to Submit
• Send your submission to: msgeekafrica@smartafrica.org
• Include your full name, age, country, and contact details (email, phone, etc).
• Submissions can be made in either English, or French
5.0 What Happens After You Apply
Each country will select one national winner to represent them. These national Ms. Geek winners will:
Be invited to a 10-day intensive bootcamp in July 2025:
5 days virtual (online sessions and mentorship)
5 days in-person in Kigali, Rwanda
During the bootcamp, participants will refine their ideas, build pitching skills, and engage with mentors and tech experts. On the final day, all participants will pitch to a panel of expert judges.
From this, the Top 10 finalists will be selected to:
• Pitch live at the Ms. Geek Africa 2025 Final during TAS2025
• Compete for top prizes before an audience of Heads of State, First Ladies, Ministers, global investors, and media
• Receive visibility, prizes, and post-TAS mentorship opportunities
For more clarification on the competition please email emily.okogo@smartafrica.org or gaelle.nsengiyumva@gmail.com for Girls in ICT Rwanda with your enquiries. You can also visit our Smart Africa and Girls in ICT Rwanda
