Three Top Winners at ECOWAS 2024 Hackathon Get $24,000

Oghenevwede Ohwovoriole in Abuja

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), in collaboration with the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), has awarded the three top performers of the 2024 Hackathon challenge held on Wednesday night in Abuja Nigeria.

President of ECOWAS, Dr. Omar Touray said the challenge was intended to improve the skill and knowledge of the region’s youth.

Touray who was represented by the Commissioner For Infrastructure Energy and Digitalisation (CIED), ECOWAS Commission, Sediko Douka, said “the Hackathon challenge provides a platform for talent identification and support for young individuals interested in new technology. By enhancing the cyber workforce, we contribute to the region’s stability and security. In an age where cyber threats are constantly , it is crucial to stay ahead of the curve.”

He told the youth that “by participating in this competition, I am sure you have enhanced your understanding of the latest cybersecurity challenges and techniques. You have also gained hands-on experience that will strengthen your skill set. You have also learned lessons which will allow you to perform better.”

Speaking further he said, “it is gratifying to note that the institution of the competition offers ECOWAS the opportunity to reaffirm its ambition to build a very resilient cyber space possible , thus contributing to the global effort to protect digital assets and privacy.”

He noted that there are new regulations at the level of the African Union and at ECOWAS regional level even as he urged all the countries to abide by these regulations and fundamentally implement them to protect critical institutions.

He also said that apart from the awards that were given, there is s training that the young people will benefit from sponsored by the donors and partners.

The Abuja edition is the third with two previous ones in Benin Republic and Togo The competition had 12 countries from the West Africa region who participated. Winners were given cash awards and gift item.

The ERROR team from Nigeria emerged third and got a cash prize of $6000 with laptops for each member of the team. The M3V7R team from Benin Republic came second with a cash prize of $8,000 and laptops for its members, while the First Prize went to Shell X Roots from Cote d’ Ivoire with a cash prize of $10,000 and laptops for members of the group.

The Director General of NITDA, Kashifu Abdullahi who was was represented by the Director of IT Infrastructure Solutions, Oladejo Olawumi , at the close of the event said it is now necessary for the region to use the competition to harness the talents of the youth to fight cybercrime, emphasising that the agency will continue to support future events.

Olawumi while speaking to Journalists said, “it is very interesting to know that there is healthy competition in this kind of technology sector. That is why we are trying to harness the beautiful energy of the youth to ensure that we fight cybercrime so they won’t have time to go into crime.”

He noted that ECOWAS, NITDA, governments, private sector concerns and the academia collaborated to make the competition a success with the goal of tackling the menace of cybercrime, which does not have any border.