While 80% of side hustlers say they just want to earn more, others are driven by a deeper urge of freedom, ownership, and the chance to create on their own terms. 

Nonetheless, only 34% of job seekers in tech actively work on side projects, despite the fact that hiring managers are scanning portfolios and GitHub pages before they even look at your CV.

In our Macro Monday discussion today, we’re not recycling vague advice. These are practical, field-tested projects people are using right now to build wealth, gain skills, and land roles. Smart work that pays off.

Project Categories at a Glance

To make it easier, we’ve grouped these into four core types:

• Build Something Useful – Tools, products, or platforms
• Create & Share Content – Blogs, tutorials, newsletters
• Offer a Service – Freelance, contract, consulting
• Use Smart Tools – AI-powered or automated hacks

You don’t need to pick one lane. In fact, over 50% of side hustlers juggle three or more projects. Let’s dive in.

10 Side Projects Worth Your Time

1. Build a Chrome Extension That Solves One Frustrating Problem

What it is: Identify a pain point (e.g. LinkedIn limits, auto-refresh for crypto trackers), then create a small extension that fixes it.
Monetisation: Offer a free version, then upsell features.
Real example: Many developers have built Chrome tools that now passively earn them hundreds monthly via Gumroad.
Start here: Learn the basic Chrome APIs, use JavaScript, and publish to the Web Store.

2. Turn Your Resume into a One-Page Portfolio Site

What it is: Convert your CV into a personal webpage showcasing work, skills, links, and testimonials.
Job impact: Instant credibility. Recruiters Google you; give them something to find.
Visibility: Include GitHub links, project demos, or blog posts.
Start here: Use templates from tools like Framer or Notion, or host a static site via GitHub Pages.

3. Write a Weekly Newsletter in Your Niche

What it is: Share insights, curations, or experiments in tech, design, or writing.
Monetisation: After building a subscriber base, offer sponsorships or premium content.
Job angle: Writing forces clarity and attracts employers who care about communication.
Start here: Substack, Beehiiv, or even LinkedIn Newsletters.

4. Contribute to an Open Source Project

What it is: Improve, document, or bug-fix public codebases.
Credibility: Shows team skills, code quality, and real-world impact.
Networking: Maintainers and contributors often refer each other for jobs.
Start here: Use GitHub’s “Good First Issue” label to onboard quickly.

5. Build and Sell Notion or Figma Templates

What it is: Create digital templates people can use for productivity, design, or content planning.
Income: List them on marketplaces or your own site. Some sellers earn $500–$2,000/month.
No code needed: Just good design thinking and problem solving.
Start here: Browse the most downloaded templates, then create your own twist.

6. Join and Win a Hackathon (Even a Virtual One)

What it is: Build a product or prototype over a few days with a team or solo.
Value: Recognition, cash prizes, and sometimes direct job offers.
Resume boost: Demonstrates speed, collaboration, and initiative.
Start here: Sites like Devpost, MLH, and AngelHack list ongoing events globally.

7. Start a Micro SaaS That Solves a Niche Problem

What it is: A simple subscription-based tool built for a narrow audience.
Earnings: Many devs earn $1k–$5k/month from solo tools.
Scalability: Low overhead, high leverage.
Start here: Solve a workflow issue in your industry. Build in public for feedback.

8. Create an Open Source API Wrapper

What it is: Wrap a complex or poorly documented API (e.g. government data, crypto, niche SaaS) into something easier to use.
Impact: Developers appreciate great wrappers—your repo might go viral.
Job bonus: Shows backend and API fluency, which hiring managers love.
Start here: Pick an API, write the wrapper, document it clearly, and share.

9. Design and Sell Developer-Themed Merchandise

What it is: Funny t-shirts, coding mugs, niche stickers, even physical zines.
Earnings: Print-on-demand means zero upfront costs.
Branding: Build a small community and turn it into a brand.
Start here: Use Teespring or Redbubble, promote on Reddit or Dev.to.

10. Launch a Free Tool That Solves a Micro-Pain

What it is: A tiny website, calculator, or widget that does one thing well.
Why it works: Low barrier to build, high value if done right.
Examples: Colour palette generators, Markdown previewers, habit trackers.
Start here: Identify what you Google for regularly, then build it yourself.

Bonus: Stack Your Side Projects

One side project can turn into a whole ecosystem. Your Chrome extension gets you newsletter subscribers. Your newsletter feeds into your micro SaaS. Your micro SaaS becomes your main income.

This is how people are building tech careers that don’t depend entirely on job boards or HR filters. It’s all about creating your own momentum.

Just Start

Most people overthink this. You don’t need VC funding or perfect skills. You just need to start.

In 2025, spending 11–16 hours per week on a side project can translate into $16–23/hour or even more over time. For those of us in regions like Sub-Saharan Africa, where online gig work is becoming more common, this isn’t just a trend, it’s a strategy and a growth path to thrive.

Choose one idea. Build fast. Ship often. You never know which project will open the next door.

Which of these projects are you most likely to start? Hit reply, comment, or share it with someone who’s stuck. Your future job, or income stream, might be waiting on the other side of a weekend build.

The hackathon comes hot on the heels of a partnership that has already seen Bybit contribute AED 500,000 to 15 crypto startups in the DMCC crypto ecosystem.

Bybit’s own thought leaders Bryan Aaron and Daniel Basharimov will help adjudicate the competition, which is scheduled for Nov. 22, 2023 and focused on artificial intelligence, gaming, and blockchain security.

The hackathon is set to become the largest-of-its-kind in MENA, in terms of prize pools and participation.

Bybit and DMCC partnership joined forces in June 2023, creating a strategic bond destined to accelerate the mass adoption of crypto in the heart of Dubai. Bybit is pushing the adoption of crypto worldwide, bringing its 16 million users on a journey to financial freedom and it has vowed to invest in its growth within the emirate.

Their collaboration was symbolized as Bybit became an official Ecosystem Partner for the DMCC Crypto Centre, a place where crypto and Web3 businesses thrive, creating a charged atmosphere for innovation. Going beyond financial support, Bybit is also DMCC’s crypto listing partner, assisting startups to bootstrap growth and offering mentorship.

Registration for the hackathon opened on Sept. 26, 2023 and will run through Oct. 26, 2023. The event is scheduled for Nov. 22. All projects are welcome — Blockchain Infrastructure, Artificial Intelligence (AI), DeFi, NFTs, Metaverse, Crypto Gaming, Sustainable Blockchain Solutions, and more

“In Dubai’s ever-evolving crypto landscape, Bybit stands out as the ‘Crypto Ark,’ ready to assist DMCC Crypto Centre members’ companies in bringing their dreams to life,” said Ben Zhou, co-founder and CEO of Bybit. “This hackathon is just one of many projects we are collaborating with DMCC, and is so important as it provides a supportive atmosphere for young talent to emerge and grow.”

Participants can be located anywhere in the world but must choose a country to represent within the 4 different regions: America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, or Asia-Pacific.

In line with Andela’s focus on helping companies build remote engineering teams, coders will be hacking and designing products that will help solve the problems of the future of work.

Consisting of two rounds, teams or individuals will first participate in the EPIC Coding Challenge, where they will be assessed on their coding abilities. The 3-hour challenge will see participants code their way up to the leaderboard.

A shortlist of 16 teams [four from each region] will get exclusive access to the EPIC Remote Worker Hackathon starting November 28, 2022, where they will spend ten days working on their hack ahead of presenting their solution to a panel of judges. Participants’ final work will be judged based on their problem-solving and product-building skills, as well as Andela’s EPIC values. They’re encouraged to be: 

• Excellent in their various stacks 
• Passionate about their idea/solution which they will be presented
• To show Integrity and honesty when showcasing the solutions they will be providing
• And to Collaborate to win against the other teams in the competition

The teams with the top three strongest solutions in terms of Creativity, Impact, Feasibility, and Scalability will be awarded prizes worth $10,000 in cash and swags from Andela and partners. 

Speaking about the hackathon, Michael Starkenburg, Chief Product and Technology Officer, says: “Through the EPIC tournament, we are creating an experience that will help developers across the world to test their skills and collaborate with others while potentially developing meaningful solutions to positively impact the growing number of remote workers around the world.

Hackathons encourage participants to tap into their creativity, and we look forward to the creative solutions technologists will come up with.” 

In recent years, the mainstream adoption of remote work has seen exponential growth, with 56% of global companies allowing remote work, while 16% of global companies are fully remote, according to an Owl Labs study. The hackathon will inspire solutions that can power the future of remote work globally.

Discussing the tournament, Carlos Carrascal, Senior Marketing Manager for Talent at Andela, says: “Talent exists all over the globe. Technology is creating more diverse and inclusive opportunities today than ever before – it doesn’t matter where you were born, where you live, your age, or your gender. At Andela, we created the EPIC tournament as a space for engineers to showcase their skills, represent their country, have fun, and be part of the best team in their region – and the world.”

Launched in 2014, Andela helps companies such as GitHub, Goldman Sachs, and Cloudflare build remote engineering teams by providing them with access to the world’s best software engineers. Today, the Andela network represents engineering talent from over 100 countries. 

Applications will close on November 26 2022, with the shortlisted teams evaluated at the live-streamed finale and award ceremony on December 13th, 2022. For more details and registration on the EPIC tournament, please visit here.

We wish to draw attention to the talents that exist in this space whilst highlighting the need to help build capacity that not only strengthens the cybersecurity ecosystem but also competes on a global level.

It is the desire of ABC and its partners to have the hackathon that will encourage discussions about upskilling and mentorship, cyber-attacks and how to mitigate them, and the state of the nation’s cybersecurity regulatory framework. The Hackathon will award innovators for displaying their level of expertise and skills in developing solutions to cyber challenges.

Eligibility

The Cybersecurity Hackathon is open to students, experts, and freelance cybersecurity personnel who have experience working in the Cybersecurity space and have shown some level of expertise.

To be eligible, an applicant must:

• Applicants must be above 18.

• Have a degree from an accredited tertiary institution.

• Must be a citizen of Nigeria.

• You must indicate previous works done in the Cybersecurity space.

• Not be a govt. agency, public administration, political organization, or non-profit of any type.

• Not be an individual engaged in any illegal activity and not listed on the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Sanctions List.

Application process:

Registration link is here.

To register, you need to form a team. A team is made up of 4-6 participants.

Once the team captain registers the team, please wait for a follow up email to join our Discord channel.

Applications are due on October 2nd at 8pm (Nigeria time).

Questions regarding the competition must be submitted via email to mailto:info@abccCyberHackathon.org

Questions and answers will be posted to the ABC website for all potential applicants.

The Hackathon will offer prizes such as Internship Opportunities for winners, Laptops, Cybersecurity Certificates, Cisco Certified CyberOps Associate, Certification for Teams’ Captains, and Merchandise for the teams.

Selection Process

The Cyber Hackathon will have one final round. This will be held from the 3rd to the 4th of October.

The top three will be awarded on the 6th of October at the 2022 Cybersecurity Conference by the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy.

At the “eNaira Hackathon” grand finale on Thursday in Abuja, CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele made this statement.

eNaira was inaugurated on Oct. 25, 2021, by President Muhammadu Buhari, making Nigeria the first African country to launch a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC).

TechEconomy reports that the hackathon is a CBN collaborative initiative with the African Fintech Foundry (AFF).

it is aimed at bringing together teams of talented entrepreneurs, developers, designers, solution developers, problem-solvers, and ‘code magicians’ from Africa to develop innovative solutions for improved adoption of the eNaira.

The competition was part of efforts by the CBN to drive financial inclusion, facilitate macroeconomic growth and integrate the Nigerian economy into the world-leading economies through innovation and cutting-edge emerging technologies.

Emefiele said since its inauguration, eNaira had reached 840,000 downloads, with about 270,000 active wallets, comprising more than 252,000 consumer wallets and 17,000 merchant wallets.

He claims that the digital currency will increase financial inclusion, aid in the eradication of poverty, provide the direct distribution of welfare benefits to citizens, support a robust payments environment, and increase the availability and usability of central bank reserves.

“The eNaira will also facilitate diaspora remittances, reduce the cost of processing cash, and also reduce the cost and improve the efficiency of cross-border payments,” he said.

The apex bank governor, however, said that the eNaira was the same Naira with far more possibilities.

“The eNaira will make a significant positive difference to Nigeria and Nigerians. It was also developed to provide Nigerians with a cheap, safe, and trusted means of payment.

“It is unlike the offline payments channels like agent networks, USSD, wearables, cards, and near field communication technology.

“The eNaira would give access to financial services to underserved and unbanked segments of the population,” he said.

He said that innovative products and services built on the eNaira would enhance Nigerians’ participation in the digital economy and promote further development of a burgeoning Fintech ecosystem.

“To achieve these set-out objectives, the project adopted a phased- approach with the first phase focusing on banked users, while the policy objective of the second phase borders around financial inclusion.

“In addition, the eNaira platform possesses an innovation layer for products and services to be built to enhance Nigerians’ participation in the digital economy,” he said.

According to Emefiele, the second phase of the project has begun and is intended to drive financial inclusion by onboarding unbanked and underserved users leveraging offline channels.

He said that the CBN was now ready to accommodate unbanked Nigerians in the eNaira platform

“Greater success is envisioned for the project with phase two expected to deliver more gains with a target of about eight million active users based on estimations using the diffusion of innovation model.

“When we launched the eNaira, we promised to increase the level of financial inclusion in the Country because just like the Naira, the eNaira is expected to be accessible to all Nigerians.

“It will provide more possibilities to bring in the unbanked into the digital economy.

” I am pleased to inform you that by next week, Nigerians, both banked and unbanked, will be able to open an eNaira wallet and conduct transactions by simply dialing *997 from their phones,” he said.

According to Mr. Kingsley Obiora, CBN’s Deputy Governor, Economic Policy, the use of physical cash is gradually getting out of fashion across the globe due to the growth of digital currencies.

“In South Korea, 77 percent no longer use cash to do a payment, while in the Philippines it is 30 percent.

“In Nigeria, we are also seeing the same decline in the use of cash, the minting of currencies in the CBN has been reducing in the last couple of years.

“So alongside this reduction in the use of cash has also been an explosion in e-business and we have seen the value of e-business grow from 393 billion dollars in 2014 to about 2.4 trillion dollars now.

“If you look at this movement, you will realize that the central banks in the world are responding to the yearnings of citizens.

“That is why 96 percent of central banks in the world are either working on digital currencies or they have done so already,” he said.

It has been a huge task for the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to ensure that the digital currency it created is adopted by Nigerians. One of the steps they took was to open up a hackathon. 

Recall that TechEonomy reported that the eNaira hackathon by CBN and Africa Fintech Foundry (AFF) was in a move to drive financial inclusion, facilitate macroeconomic growth, and integrate the Nigerian economy into world-leading economies through innovation and cutting-edge emerging technologies.

According to Daniel Awe, Head of AFF, 5,000 participants from the finance community applied for the hackathon and were cut to roughly 175 teams. 70 will head to the quarterfinal pitching.

He stated that 20 teams would be chosen for the finals, with the top ten receiving assistance to increase eNaira adoption in the country.

He claimed that the country needs to embrace eNaira more widely since it benefits economic activities, helps the digital economy, and increases financial inclusion.

He said, ”so the hackathon is a platform where innovators, developers, entrepreneurs, coders come together, to solve problems, to create innovative ideas.”

”When we layer that on eNaira, it means we brought in different players within the ecosystem – developers, coders, innovators, entrepreneurs, to come up with different ideas, different use cases, that they can leverage on eNaira.”

”This is so that the consumers of eNaira will now see the benefit of eNaira, they will have the opportunity to see the problem that eNaira will solve,” he added.

Awe stated that the CBN’s role was simply to provide a platform for fintech startups and entrepreneurs to use to develop solutions that would benefit the whole financial services industry. 

He said ”Now, these top 10 potential businesses when they come out of the final of the hackathon, there is a cash prize for them.

”I think number one is going to get 5 million eNaira. Number two is getting 3 million eNaira. Number three, 2 million, and the remaining, the next ten will get 1 million eNaira.

”Afterwards, those top 10 will resume in the AFF accelerator programme, whereby some of them will get some funding to start up their businesses on their ideas.” 

He added that by the time they come up with good business with their innovations, employment would be created and they would increase the adoption of eNaira.

At the launch in Lagos, industry leaders, speakers, mentors, innovators, and participants were in attendance to discuss the modalities, issues on climate change, and how technology will serve as a catalyst for solutions. 

During a presentation, Victor Afolabi, Founder, Eko Innovation Centre & Curator, Art of Technology Lagos said Ekoclimathon 1.0 is aimed at providing sustainable solutions that will address the problems of climate change with a particular focus on Agriculture, food, and waste, Circular Economy, Transportation challenge, Nature-based solutions challenge, and Energy.

According to Afolabi, Ekoclimathon 1.0 recorded 1034 entries (participants) across 11 countries, participants were grouped into various teams and expected to collaborate for a period of 3 weeks, brainstorming and ideating new concepts based on their focus areas. 

Each team gets to pitch their ideas to a selection Jury of subject matter experts and the best 10 teams with the most viable concepts will go head-to-head at the finale on the 5th of August for a chance at the $7,500 prize pool and an acceleration program to get their products ready for the market.

He said the Ekoclimathon 1.0 would gather industries, corporate bodies, government agencies, policymakers, associations, agriculture sectors, and tech hubs to create an alternative fast route that can bring the world closer to the net-zero goal.

Afolabi said it’s imperative to start harnessing the creativity and talents of young people in Africa who are enthusiastic about technology in addressing the problem of climate change. 

He said Nigeria is among the top 50 countries in the world that contribute to the problem of climate change due to the dependency of Nigeria on natural resources and emission of greenhouse gases. 

Afolabi explained that Nigeria’s biggest employer of labor and the highest contribution to the economy is agriculture.  

“We are so heavily dependent on agriculture, even forestry, and all the things that we do contributes to the impacts of climate change that we see today.”

Further, he said climate change is also influencing immigration, adding that the whole of North Central is in chaos, due to the massive immigration from other regions. 

“The Lake Chad is drying up, people can no longer do fishing. Some of them are displaced.  The headers don’t have where to live. In the long run, it affects the state of health.”

On technology addressing the problem of climate change, Afolabi said there are 5 areas of digital solutions that will be hacked – foundational technologies, cloud technologies, decision-making technologies, sense and control technologies (Internet of Things), and blockchain technologies. 

“The increasing number of digital solutions can help us mitigate the issue of our choices “and how much more we do if we have hackathons and others contribute to this.”

Investment in climate technology has doubled from $28.4 billion to $87 billion in the last 12 months of half of 2022 and half of 2021.

According to Afolabi, there is massive investment in climate technology, and the investing communities are ready to partner with organizations, policymakers, and engineers, who are willing to be part of the climate change mitigation journey.  

Speaking at the launch, Celine Lafoucriere, Chief of Field Office, UNICEF Nigeria, and Generation Unlimited Lead said the initiative by Eko Innovation Centre looks extremely promising and will be monitoring the progress of the hackathon. 

Celine said Generation Unlimited 9Ja is impacting Nigerian youth between the ages of 10 to 30 to become productive and engaged members of society, ensuring that they are all in some form of school, learning, training, or employment by 2030.

“Our mandate is to make sure that no one is left behind. So we’re looking at the very most vulnerable that we’re looking at the mind-blowing number of population of young people under the age of 30.”

Generation Unlimited 9Ja has a digital skill platform that will help Nigerians upskill and the goal is to impact 20 million young people by 2030.

“So simple in math, that means 2.5 million in Nigeria every year, and we’re on the road to success. We bring to you Yoma, a digital platform to access digital learning for free. This is a very exciting digital platform on which all partners, launch free offers for any kind of skill. 

The financial regulator had tweeted Tuesday, calling on interested tech enthusiasts to submit entries.

The hackathon structure will be hybrid (physical and virtual). The physical event will hold in AFF premises for Lagos and a designated location by CBN in Abuja.

According to CBN, the participants will be required to develop use-cases for the eNaira in the following target areas: international remittances, financial inclusion, cross-border payments, and trade.

Themed ‘eNaira – Africa’s Gateway to a Digital Economy’, the hackathon is aimed at bringing together teams of talented entrepreneurs, developers, designers, solution developers, problem-solvers, out-of-the-box thinkers, and ‘code magicians’ from Africa to develop innovative solutions that will drive improved adoption of the eNaira.

The CBN said the competition is part of efforts to drive financial inclusion, facilitate macroeconomic growth and integrate the Nigerian economy into world-leading economies through innovation and cutting-edge emerging technologies.

CBN said the newly introduced digital currency (eNaira) would be key in ensuring a competitive digital economy in the future.

It added that the currency would support the efficient functioning of the new markets that use these technologies, thereby fostering competition and innovation.

Interested participants can register for the eNaira hackathon via this link.

LiveBIc, which comprised Shadrach Akao and Ernest Ogbanefe emerged the overall winners from a list of 10 finalists involved in the pitch at the finals of the hackathon.

LiveBIc won the star prize of $10,000 for developing a new platform for content creators to market and deliver their content.

Sprayme clinched the second position and $4,000 prize money for innovating a new way for social gifting and content monetization;

Reelbuzz emerged the third winner with $3,000 for creating an intuitive platform that helps brands connect and command higher brand loyalty;

Innovatoras took the fourth position as well as $2,000 prize money for directing the leads for businesses and turning them to paying customers and Monify Cookies, fifth position with $1,000 for developing a browser tool that provides its users the ability to block all unsolicited ads and earn money from allowed ads.

The winners and runners-up will also get working space at Eko Innovation Centre, while all ten (10) finalists will have access to join the EIC accelerator program and GITEX Global pitch event in Dubai.

Recall, that the best 10 teams with the most viable concepts went head-to-head at the finale for the $20,000 prize pool and an acceleration programme with up to $50K equity investment to get their products ready for the market among other benefits.

Speaking on the initiative and what inspired it, Victor Afolabi, Founder, of Eko Innovation Centre, and Curator MarkHack 1.0 said, MarkHack 1.0 is a gathering of innovators, entrepreneurs, Policymakers, and Marketing Professionals, to create solutions to real-life Marketing challenges in an intense period of time.

Using creativity, technology, and mentoring, resulting in prototypes, fresh new concepts, and innovative usages of tech for Marketing and Media.

He added that “Seeing how technology has disrupted global industries all over the world, we perceived that the marketing and media industry was ripe for disruption. However, they are two things, it is either we collaborate with stakeholders in the industry to create the disruption we anticipate or we allow disruption to happen to us, and we choose to do the former.”

“The former involves working with over 100 organisations and representatives from the various organisations to co-create together and disrupt that which we anticipate. That co-creation gave birth to what we call MarkHack. We brought together experts in the industry across sectorial groups from clients, agencies, professionals, technology experts, venture capitalists, policymakers, regulators and we all came together to come to create the MarkHack,” he said.

On his part, Hakeem Popoola Fahm, Commissioner of Science and Technology, Lagos State applauded the organizers for the laudable initiative and stated that it is a testament to the success of Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s commitment to making Lagos a smart city by digitalizing its operations and providing an enabling environment for technology innovations to be given birth to. He added that MarkHack 1.0 has shown that Marketers and media practitioners can digitalize operations and the state government would continue to support the ecosystem.

Similarly, the Special Adviser, Innovation and Technology to the Governor of Lagos State, Tubosun Alake said the government has been supporting various research works through Lagos State Science Research and Innovation Council (LASRIC) across multiple industries including the marketing industry and it won’t rest on its oars in actualizing the smart city agenda of the present administration.

Earlier in the programme, the President of the National Institute of Marketing of Nigeria (NIMN), Idorenyen Enang while delivering his keynote address at the event urged marketers to continue to innovate, and know how to use their channels effectively. He had also emphasized that marketing is not merely about integrated marketing communication, adding that innovators require to follow laid-down principles of marketing.

Similarly, in a fireside chat, Franklin Ozekhome, CEO & Head of Growth, Identiture Africa; Seyi Tinubu, CEO/Chairman, Loatsad Promomedia; and Muyiwa Aleshinloye, Head of Marketing, Wakanow called on marketers to take advantage of technology to grow their brands as Metaverse, Artificial Intelligence, and others are being deployed to ease business operations.

The organizers of the MarkHack 1.0, Eko Innovation Centre and GDM Group revealed that over 500 individuals registered to participate in the hackathon from 72 locations, 5 countries (which includes Nigeria, California- USA, Kenya, Pakistan, and London), and 3 continents (Africa, Europe, and North America).

The participants were split into teams of 5 and were required to work together for 3 weeks, brainstorm, and come up with new concepts based on their areas of focus. They were also sub-grouped into 8 focus areas which include consumer experience, media consumption, consumer recruitment & interaction, trade & retail engagement, analytics and metrics, events marketing, media monetization, and content creation.

Each team pitched their ideas to a respected Jury of experts in the subject matter, and the best 10 teams were picked by the Jurors before only five emerged winners at the grand finale. Overall, the hackathon had 21 Mentors, 30 Selection Jurors, 8 Speakers, and 8 Final Jurors who partook in the event and are the industry’s best with decades of experience in marketing, media, technology, and business management, and others.

The winners were judged by professionals which include Steve Babaeko, CEO/Chief Creative Officer, X3M Ideas & President, Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria; Iquo Ukoh, Director, Board of Directors, Letshego Microfinance Bank Ltd; Uwem Uwemakpan, Cofounder of Ingressive Capital; Tolulope Tomori Adedeji, Marketing Director, Anheuser-Busch InBev; and Debola Williams, Group CEO at Red Africa.

Others are Joseph Agunbiade, Cofounder, BudgIt; Kayode Oladapo, Assistant Regional Manager for Zone AOA (Africa, Oceania, and Asia), Nestle; and Jide Sipe, Head, Marketing and Corporate Communication, Ecobank Nigeria.

NITDA Hackathon is a national event in collaboration with academic institutions to drive digital innovation and entrepreneurship by challenging Nigeria’s teeming youths to ideate and develop solutions from inception through to the market.

According to a statement signed by Mrs. Hadiza Umar, head, Corporate Affairs and External Relations at NITDA, the hackathon is set to develop and grow a global network of IT experts, comprising Nigerian youths within the country and in the diaspora.

It is targeted at inculcating entrepreneurship spirit in academia, creating a platform where industry and public institutions will leverage the academic research ecosystem to solve national challenges using technology.

This year, the focus is on Agriculture, Security and Logistics.

The first edition of the hackathon will be held between 18th – 20th January 2022 at the Modibbo Adama University of Technology (MAUTECH), Yola, Adamawa.

And the second edition will hold between 25th – 27th January 2022 at the University of Ibadan, Oyo State, while the third edition will hold between 31st January – 2nd February 2022 at the University of Calabar, Cross Rivers State.

The challenge is open to ALL- students, entrepreneurs and innovators.

The successful startups’ groups in each category will be awarded cash prizes and will have the opportunity to develop their idea further for commercialisation with NITDA’s support.

For more details, visit the website HERE.

More about NCAIR

The National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (NCAIR) is one of NITDA’s special purpose vehicles created to promote research and development on emerging technologies and their practical application in areas of Nigerian national interest. NCAIR is also focused on creating a thriving ecosystem for innovation-driven entrepreneurship (IDE), job creation, and national development.