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 winning the Audience Choice Award. AgriQ-Connect presented an agritech solution aimed at tackling food security challenges in Africa by reducing post-harvest losses.

Their innovation includes a Tinder-like marketplace that directly connects farmers with processing companies, coupled with an AI-integrated silo for real-time crop monitoring. This technology seeks to address the staggering $4 billion annual post-harvest losses in sub-Saharan Africa, offering a scalable and sustainable solution to one of the continent’s most pressing agricultural challenges.

One of the AgriQ-Connect team members, Mariam Hamzat, shared that while the team had dedicated significant time to their project and gave it their best, the win still came as a welcome surprise.

“We knew our idea was great, but you never know what the judges are looking for. It is a pleasant surprise to have won, and we hope to build on this idea to create an agritech solution that will drive sustainable agriculture across Africa,” she said.

Other winning teams included Charted AI, which proposed an AI-powered bookkeeping solution for SMEs in East Africa, securing second place with a prize of $3,000. MamaCare, an AI voice hotline providing medical advice and appointment booking for moms and moms-to-be in Nigeria, won third place with a prize of $1,000.