Absa Bank Kenya, in partnership with GirlCode, has kicked off the 2025 edition of the GirlCodeHack. It is a pan-African women-in-tech hackathon set to empower 100 young women in Kenya, aged 18-35 to solve realtime problems in fintech, cybersecurity, and AI through a 30-hour sprint.
This is more than double the number of participants in last year’s hackathon that the bank is targeting through the ReadytoWork platform. ReadytoWork is an initiative designed to equip youth with digital and employability skills.
Scheduled for October 11-12, 2025, the hackathon will run simultaneously across seven African cities, including Nairobi. Themed Future-Proofing Africa: Innovation at the Intersection of FinTech, Cybersecurity, and AI, the winning team will walk away with a grand prize of Ksh. 725,802. The competition is open to university students, recent graduates, and young professionals, where participants can register in teams of twos to fours.
“This hackathon is a gateway to opportunity. By creating inclusive spaces like GirlCodeHack, we are not only investing in the future of tech but also advancing key Sustainable Development Goals, especially on quality education, gender equality, and decent work. This is how we ensure young Kenyan women are part of shaping real-world solutions,” said Absa Kenya’s Chief Operations and Digital Officer, Julius Kamau.
The hackathon has been designed to attract participation from a wide range of counties to ensure nationwide representation. Speaking on Absa’s continued support, Tamu Dutuma, Absa Group’s Head of Strategy and Transformation said that the bank is committed to diversity, inclusion and youth empowerment in technology.
Last year’s competition, which was held across five cities, attracted over 400 young women from across the continent. Kenya’s winning team developed a web application to empower women and girls with accessible, gamified information on sexual and reproductive health. Other innovations included a carbon footprint calculator aligned with government caps, a data-driven agriculture platform, AI-powered mental health tools, blockchain-based land registries, and mobile fraud detection solutions for African SMEs.
“Our mission is to expose 10 million women and girls to technology by 2030,” said Zandile Mkwanazi, CEO and Founder of GirlCode. “With Absa’s partnership, we are scaling impact and ensuring more women see themselves not just as coders, but as problem-solvers, innovators, and leaders.”
This year’s hackathon will take place in Nairobi, Kampala, Dar es Salaam, Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, and Gaborone. It will be backed by experienced industry professionals as mentors to guide teams throughout the 30-hour experience. Participants will gain technical skills, mentorship in solving real problems and exposure to Africa’s growing digital economy.
Women aged 18-35 are encouraged to apply by 8th August, 2025 through the ReadytoWork App available on Android and IoS.