Cortex Hub, the South African innovation accelerator turning 15 next year, is embarking on a new initiative: a continent-wide hackathon to build Africa’s first generation of autonomous AI agents.
The program will span 40 cities and offer winners a $10,000 non-equity grant. But for founder and patron Andile Ngcaba, the real prize is sovereignty, ensuring AI reflects Africa’s values, languages, and traditions rather than foreign defaults.
“Agents are everything in AI,” Ngcaba said. “They will be how most people interact with AI, whether at work, at home, or when dealing with the government.”
The team says the new hackathon marks a major leap in scale, moving beyond mentorship and startups toward shaping Africa’s role in the global AI economy.
Techparley’s Quadri Adejumo reports on how Cortex Hub is mobilizing 40 African cities to build homegrown AI agents and drive the continent’s agentic economy.
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Dr. Andile Ngcaba, Patron of The CortexHub and a lifelong champion of Pan-African initiatives is hailing the MCP Hackathon Africa 2025 as more than a competition but a strategic move for the advancement of the African continent.
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At the launch of the Tech Credit Fund, Dr. Andile Ngcaba underlined the importance of supporting SA ISPs with growth finance, further introduced the MCP Hackathon Africa 2025. #MCPHackAfrica Register for MCP Hackathon Africa 👉🏽 https://t.co/meKFPUVkSi @sedfa_dsbd@SolconCapital