Africa IoT & AI Challenge

What Africa IoT & AI Challenge does

Africa IoT & AI Challenge is a non-profit regional capacity-building and pre-incubation program for African startups operating in the Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) sectors. Founded in 2016 as the Arab IoT & AI Challenge (originally launched in Egypt in collaboration with Intel Corporation and Egypt's Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center (TIEC)), the program expanded across 12 MENA countries before being relaunched as the Africa IoT & AI Challenge at the IEEE Global Conference on AI and IoT (IEEE GCAIoT) in December 2020. It is co-organized by IEEE, IEEE TEMS, IEEE Africa Council, WAKANDAI Ventures (founding organizing partner), Global Innovation & Entrepreneurship (GIE), and Ideaspace, with Benya serving as Official Sponsor and Banque Misr sponsoring the FinTech track.

The Challenge delivers a structured five-step annual program: a one-month open registration, a virtual Training & Mentorship Camp, submission and local Demo Days, preparation training for qualified winners, and regional finals at GITEX Africa in Marrakesh, Morocco. Participants compete across thirteen thematic tracks including Smart Manufacturing, Smart Transportation, Smart Cities, Smart Agriculture, Healthcare, FinTech, Energy, Education, and Automotive. The offering is supplemented by the IoT & AI Knowledge Hub, an always-on online learning platform providing workshops, lectures, and career resources to the African and Arab IoT & AI community. Winners receive a funded trip to GITEX Africa (3 days, 2 nights in Marrakesh, exhibition pods, possible flight grants), an IEEE Recognition Trophy, and introductions to investors and incubators.

Africa IoT & AI Challenge operates across 25 African countries (expanded from 6 in 2021), with physical activities in Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, Tunisia, Uganda, Nigeria, Ghana, Rwanda, and South Africa, and virtual participation from additional nations. The program is entirely free to participants, takes no equity in participating startups, and is funded through corporate sponsorships and institutional partnerships. Distribution is anchored by national committees in each country that combine government ministries (e.g., Nigeria's Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy and NITDA, Uganda's Ministry of ICT and NITA-U) with private agencies, alongside academic partnerships with 15+ African universities. By 2024, the Challenge had scaled from a single-country program to a 25-country continental movement, with no commercial revenue model and no traditional ownership structure.

Name

Africa IoT & AI Challenge

Legal name

Africa IoT & AI Challenge

Website

https://africaiotai.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

Africa IoT & AI Challenge is a non-profit regional capacity-building and pre-incubation program that runs an annual competition and training program for African startups in IoT and AI, operating across 25 African countries with co-organizers IEEE, WAKANDAI Ventures, and Ideaspace, and finals at GITEX Africa in Morocco.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Startup Innovation Challenge Program

NAICS

Educational Support Services (611710), Computer Training (61142)

akta.pro primary industry

IoT, Sensors & Embedded Systems (Arduino/Raspberry Pi) Programs (EDAMADAI)

akta.pro secondary industry

Digital Development & ICT4D / GovTech Technical Assistance (BPADAEAL)

Keywords

• IoT startup competition
• AI entrepreneurship program
• Startup accelerator Africa
• Innovation challenge program
• Tech startup mentorship

Headquarters

HQ city

Cairo

HQ country

Egypt

HQ region

Africa

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Non-profit Program: The Africa IoT & AI Challenge is explicitly stated as a non-for-profit program. There are no registration fees and the program does not take any equity in participating startups. The challenge is funded through sponsorships and partnerships with organizations like IEEE, Benya, Banque Misr, and other corporate and governmental entities.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Africa IoT & AI Challenge is a non-profit regional challenge program for African founders and co-founders of IoT and AI startups who have developed a prototype or product. The program delivers a one-month registration period, a virtual training and mentorship camp, country-level competitions and demo days, and continental finals held at GITEX Africa in Marrakesh, Morocco. Participation is free with no equity taken, and winners receive funded trips, IEEE recognition trophies, and access to investment and incubation opportunities.

Product overview

Africa IoT & AI Challenge is a regional capacity-building and pre-incubation program (not a typical software product) designed to stimulate innovation and digital transformation across Africa. The core offering consists of the Africa IoT & AI Challenge itself — a structured competition program with local country-level rounds and continental finals at GITEX Africa — supplemented by the IoT & AI Knowledge Hub (an online learning platform providing workshops, lectures, and career resources), a Training & Mentorship Camp (virtual bootcamp for technical and business skills), and thirteen Challenge Categories spanning sectors like Smart Agriculture, Healthcare, FinTech, Smart Cities, and Energy. Participants gain access to international conferences, local digital fabrication labs, AIoT Africa community networking, and potential investment and incubation opportunities.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• IoT & AI Knowledge Hub: A knowledge complex that provides online workshops, lectures, and online learning resources for the IoT & AI community in Africa and the Arab world

Products and services

• Africa IoT & AI Challenge A regional capacity-building and pre-incubation challenge program for African entrepreneurs with innovative startup ideas in IoT and AI. The program delivers registration, virtual training and mentorship, demo days, country-level competitions, and continental finals at GITEX Africa, representing a digital transformation movement across 25 African countries.
• IoT & AI Knowledge Hub An online knowledge platform providing workshops, lectures, online learning resources, discussion panels, interviews, and career guidance content for the IoT & AI community in Africa and the Arab world.

Quantifiable outcome

• Expanding from 6 to 25 participating countries in one year
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers16 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

32 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 December 2020IEEE is the world's largest technical professional organization and the challenge owner. IEEE GCAIoT serves as the platform for the challenge launch and annual finals. The challenge was officially launched at IEEE GCAIoT 2020.
• IEEE TEMS (Technology and Engineering Management Society)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIEEE TEMS co-organizes the challenge with its dedicated society for Technology and Engineering Management. IEEE TEMS President Andy Chen is actively involved in program design and delivery.
• IEEE Africa CouncilcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIEEE Africa Council is the umbrella organization providing centralized coordination of all IEEE Sections and Subsections in the African region for the challenge.
• Global Innovation & Entrepreneurship (GIE)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGIE works to support the innovation ecosystem in the MENA region and worldwide, managing projects and programs in innovation and entrepreneurship. One of the founding organizing partners of the Africa Challenge.
• WAKANDAI VenturescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWAKANDAI is the founding organizing partner of the Africa IoT & AI Challenge. The technology investment firm is committed to bringing AI solutions and applications to African communities.
• IdeaspacecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIdeaspace is an innovation platform that enables innovators and ecosystem members to create breakthroughs in the future of business through deep innovation. One of the organizing partners.
• AI Media PTY LtdminorGTM or Marketing PartnerThe AI Media Group builds a sustainable community-based movement for innovation and entrepreneurism in the African AI and data science sector. Serves as Media Sponsor.
• Digital AfricacoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorDigital Africa brings together a multinational community of partners supporting Africa's digital entrepreneurs. Local challenge organizer in Nigeria with extensive experience in technology management.
• IEEE Morocco SectioncoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorIEEE Morocco Section focuses on advancing theory and practice of electrical, electronics and computer engineering. Local challenge organizer in Morocco.
• Novation CitycoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorNovation City is a public-private program by the Ministry of Industry in Tunisia focused on innovation as a driver of development using intelligent structures and qualified human capital.
• Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KNCCI)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorKNCCI was established in 1965 to protect and develop business community interests. Local challenge organizer in Kenya alongside Konza Technopolis.
• UTAMURICcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorUTAMURIC is an umbrella Research and Innovation non-profit organisation promoting research, innovation, business incubation and startups in Africa.
• Borg El Arab Innovation ClusterminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorThe first cluster of its kind in Egypt marking the first cooperation between government and private sector in Innovation. Consortium of four academic institutions, 8 ICT companies, and 4 innovation support companies.
• Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy (Nigeria)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorMinistry created in 2011 to foster a knowledge-based economy and information society in Nigeria. Supports Nigeria IoT & AI Challenge as organizing partner.
• National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorNITDA implements Nigerian Information Technology Policy and coordinates general IT development. Organizing partner for Nigeria challenge.
• Ministry of ICT and National Guidance (Uganda)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorMinistry established in 2006 to provide strategic and technical leadership on all matters of policy, laws, regulations and strategy for the ICT sector in Uganda.
• National Information Technology Authority (NITA-U)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorNITA-U is an autonomous statutory body established to coordinate and regulate Information Technology services in Uganda under Ministry of ICT guidance.
• Nigerian Communications CommissionminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorNCC is the independent National Regulatory Authority for the telecommunications industry in Nigeria, creating an enabling environment for competition.
• Smart Africa SecretariatminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSmart Africa is a bold commitment from African Heads of State to accelerate sustainable socio-economic development, ushering Africa into a knowledge economy through affordable Broadband and ICT.
• AfICTA (Africa ICT Alliance)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAfICTA is a private sector led alliance of ICT Associations, MNCs, companies, and individuals in the ICT sector in Africa.
• Orange CornersminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerOrange Corners supports young entrepreneurs with incubation and acceleration programmes and initiatives focused on strengthening the entrepreneurial ecosystem.
• AfricArenaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAfricArena is an African tech accelerator running Corporate Open Innovation challenges throughout the continent with connections to tech startups, corporations, and investors.
• Delta SquareminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDelta Square is an Innovation Enablement Platform igniting innovation through capacity building, pre-incubation programs and competitions.
• Startup ReactorminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerStartup Reactor is a 6-month entrepreneurship program supporting and accelerating startups in Egypt with high growth potential through mentoring, training, and support services.
• Nile UniversityminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorNile University is a world class research institution and non-profit university, leader in technology and business education in MENA region. Academic partner.
• Strathmore UniversityminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorStrathmore University is a chartered university based in Nairobi, Kenya established in 1961 as the first multi-racial, multi-religious advanced-level college. Academic partner.
• Kampala International UniversityminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorKIU is a private, not-for-profit institution based in Uganda established in 2001, pursuing the dream of raising the next generation of problem solvers for East Africa.
• IEEE Tunisia SectionminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorIEEE Tunisia Section aims to spread IEEE Activities by educational and technical activities, human networking, and developing technology for humanitarian challenges.
• IEEE Nigeria SectionminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorIEEE Nigeria Section has over 969 active members among over 2,500 ranging from seasoned professionals to undergraduate students.
• IEEE Ghana SectionminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorIEEE Ghana Section aims to spread IEEE Activities by educational and technical activities, human networking, and developing technology for humanitarian challenges.
• IEEE Uganda SectionminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorIEEE Uganda Section aims to spread IEEE Activities by educational and technical activities, human networking, and developing technology for humanitarian challenges.
• IEEE Kenya SectionminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorIEEE Kenya Section aims to spread IEEE Activities by educational and technical activities, human networking, and developing technology for humanitarian challenges.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Market position

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/AfricaIoTAIC
• Facebookfacebook.com/AfricaIoTAIC
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/africaiotaic

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Africa IoT & AI Challenge