AFRICODERS BUILD CHALLENGE #1
Build something useful. Ship it. Get discovered.
Prize pool: ₦400,000
Aug 22 – Sep 30, 2026 · declared prizes — staff pick winners; Africoders coordinates payout with winners.
- 1st Place
- ₦200,000
- 2nd Place
- ₦120,000
- 3rd Place
- ₦50,000
- Community Choice
- ₦30,000
Eligibility
Open to builders across Africa and beyond. International participants are eligible.
Prize payout
International winners are eligible. Africoders will coordinate an appropriate payout method with winners based on their country of residence and applicable payment requirements.
- Starts
- Aug 21, 2026
- Ends
- Sep 30, 2026
How it works
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1. Complete your Builder Profile
Public username, headline, bio, role, skills, and avatar so other builders can find you.
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2. Build your project
Create or select a public Builder Project — the work itself is the proof.
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3. Submit your work
Attach that project to this challenge. Joining alone is not the achievement.
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4. Get discovered
Your Builder Project stays on your public Builder Profile as proof of work other builders can find.
Build challenge
Participate in this challenge
Work through each step here — profile, join, project, and submission — without leaving this page.
Sign in to join and submit your work.
About the challenge
Africoders Build Challenge #1 is a public Build-layer challenge: ship a small, useful product between 24 August and 30 September 2026, attach it to your Builder Profile, and get discovered by the network. This is not an Academy course, scholarship, or paid programme. Completing it does not grant Academy Premium, certificates, or Education Fund awards.
What to build
Anything useful for people in Africa — a web or mobile app, API, developer or AI tool, automation, educational or productivity product, business tool, or community product. Scope small. Finish it. A working slice beats an unfinished platform.
Who can participate
Africoders Build Challenge #1 is open internationally. Open to builders across Africa and beyond. International participants are eligible. Anyone with an Africoders account and a sufficiently completed public Builder Profile at /in/{username} can enter. You do not need a Nigerian bank account, Academy Premium, a paid course, or a scholarship. Instructors and staff may not judge their own submission.
How it works
1. Open this challenge and join. 2. Complete your public Builder Profile if anything is missing. 3. Create or select a Builder project. 4. Submit that project before the end date. 5. Discuss progress on this challenge's public thread. 6. Staff judges score against the published criteria. Community Choice is recorded by staff after the challenge closes — it does not override judging.
Builder Profile requirement
Complete your Builder Profile to participate. We reuse the existing Builder checklist: display name / username, headline, bio, location, builder role, skills, avatar, and onboarding — plus a public profile so other builders can find you. GitHub or a personal site is recommended, not mandatory. If something is missing we will tell you what to finish and bring you back here. We will not silently reject you.
Submission requirements
Required: - A sufficiently completed public Africoders Builder Profile - A real Builder project (not a duplicate listing) - Project title and description - Explanation of the problem being solved - Technologies used - Working demo or usable output where applicable - Source repository where applicable Recommended: - Screenshots - Short demo - README / documentation Do not submit an empty repo, a placeholder, or someone else's work as your own.
Judging criteria
Staff with challenge judging permission score each valid submission: - Problem / usefulness — 30% - Execution — 25% - Technical quality — 20% - UX / design — 15% - Originality — 10% Total = 100%. Criterion breakdowns stay internal. Aggregate scores follow the existing challenge leaderboard once recorded.
Prize breakdown
Total prize pool: ₦400,000. - 1st Place — ₦200,000 - 2nd Place — ₦120,000 - 3rd Place — ₦50,000 - Community Choice — ₦30,000 International winners are eligible. Africoders will coordinate an appropriate payout method with winners based on their country of residence and applicable payment requirements. Community Choice is a declared prize category. Public contest voting is not enabled in this release; staff record the recipient after the challenge using the existing judging outcome. Reactions on this page are community engagement, not contest votes, and never override formal judging.
Timeline
Building starts Monday 24 August 2026 and ends 30 September 2026 (Africa/Lagos). Join and submit while the challenge is open. Results and winner badges are recorded only after an administrator saves judging outcomes.
Rules
One participation per person. One project submission per person (you may update your own submission while the challenge is open and unjudged). Submit your own work. Credit collaborators. No fake users, votes, or submissions. Do not harass other participants. Staff may hide or disqualify abusive submissions using existing moderation tools. International winners are eligible. Africoders will coordinate an appropriate payout method with winners based on their country of residence and applicable payment requirements. Payout details are collected after you win — not at entry.
FAQ
Do I need to live in Nigeria? No. Africoders Build Challenge #1 is open internationally. Do I need a Nigerian bank account to enter or win? No. International winners are eligible. Africoders will coordinate an appropriate payout method with winners based on their country of residence and applicable payment requirements. Do I need to pay? No. Joining this challenge does not require Academy Premium, a course purchase, or a payment provider. Do I get a certificate? Not from this challenge. Proof of work is your public Builder project and, if you qualify, a participation badge after a valid submission. Can I submit a school assignment? Yes if it is a real, usable product you built and it lives on your Builder portfolio. When are winners announced? After staff record outcomes — never automatically from votes or account creation.
Judging criteria
- Problem / usefulness 30%
- Execution 25%
- Technical quality 20%
- UX / design 15%
- Originality 10%
Criterion breakdowns stay internal. Reactions are engagement, not contest votes. Community Choice is staff-recorded.
Challenge discussion
Ask questions, share progress, give feedback, and collaborate. This uses the existing public challenge thread — not a private course community.
Open discussion