Four Nigerian PhD students at Northeastern University, Boston won $5,000 at the first edition of the MIT Africa Business Challenge 2025.
The hackathon was organised as a part of the 14th edition of the MIT Africa Innovate Conference, themed ‘By Africa, For Africa: Path to Economic Sovereignty’.
The theme focused on showcasing African-born solutions that foster economic independence, sustainability, and global competitiveness, and this vision was reflected throughout the hackathon.
The hackathon, which was organized by the MIT Sloan School of Management (MIT Sloan) Africa Business Club, took place on February 28 & March 1, 2025, at the Martin Trust Center for Entrepreneurship.
The conference, which featured further presentations by the top three winners, took place at the MIT Innovation HQ. From over 1,000 applicants across 26 institutions, 13 teams from 14 institutions participate in the hackathon, including participants from Harvard University, Dartmouth College, MIT, Wageningen University, Yale University, and HULT International Business School.
In a competitive field, the winning team, AgriQ-Connect, comprising Mariam Hamzat, a first-year PhD student in Marine and Environmental Sciences (MES), alongside Qudus Rafiu, Toheeb Obidara, and Azeez Akinyemi, PhD students in Chemical Engineering, emerged victorious, securing the $5,000 prize and also winning the Audience Choice Award. AgriQ-Connect presented an agritech solution aimed at tackling food security challenges in Africa by reducing post-harvest losses.
