The Awards
10 categories, decided in the open
Nominations are open to anyone. An independent panel shortlists three finalists per category, then the public decides. Nothing is announced until the night.
Nominations close in
26 August 2026 at 23:59 EAT. The deadline is enforced on our servers, so late entries cannot be accepted.
Nominations close in: 4 days, 14 hours and 40 minutes remaining. Closes 26 August 2026 at 23:59 EAT.
How it works
Four stages, start to finish
The split between panel and public is deliberate. The panel does the checking, the public decides the winner.
Nominate
Anyone can put forward a person or an organisation, including themselves. You give the nominee's details, a case of up to 500 words, and links to evidence.
Panel screening
An independent panel reads every entry, checks it against the criteria, and shortlists three finalists in each category. The shortlist is announced by 31 August.
Public vote
The shortlist opens to a public vote, verified by a one-time code sent to your phone. One vote per category per person, and the vote is open internationally.
Winners revealed
Running tallies stay sealed until voting closes. Winners are announced at the Presidential Reception on the evening of 26 September.
Categories
10 categories across the sector
Six recognise an individual and four recognise an organisation. You can nominate in as many as you like, with a separate case for each.
Individual categories
Awarded to a named person.
- AI for Social Impact Award
- Digital Infrastructure Champion
- Tech Education Leadership Award
- Pioneering Woman in Tech Award
- Youth Innovator Award
- Lifetime Achievement in African Tech
Institutional categories
Awarded to a company, institution or public body.
- Digital Government Innovation Award
- African Tech Startup of the Year
- Fintech Innovation Award
- Dignity in Technology Excellence in Digital Governance Award
Writing a nomination
What the panel is looking for
The case is capped at 500 words. These four things separate the nominations that make a shortlist from the ones that do not.
Evidence over assertion
The strongest nominations link to something checkable: shipped products, published figures, coverage, filings. A claim with nothing behind it is hard for the panel to score.
Impact you can point at
Who is measurably better off, and by how much. Users reached, cost removed, time saved, jobs created. Specific beats sweeping.
Recent and relevant
The panel is looking at work done recently, not a career summary. Lead with what happened in the last year or two.
Written for a reader
The panel reads a lot of these. A clear 300 words beats a padded 500, and the word limit is a ceiling rather than a target.
Common questions
Who can be nominated?
Individuals, companies, institutions and public bodies, from anywhere. The work should have a meaningful connection to Africa, but the nominee does not have to be based here.
What is the difference between the individual and institutional categories?
The individual categories recognise a named person for their own work. The institutional categories recognise an organisation: a company, an institution, or a public body. Nominate a person in an individual category and their employer in an institutional one, with a separate case for each.
Can I nominate myself or my own organisation?
Yes. Self-nominations are read on exactly the same terms as any other, and are not marked differently for the panel.
Can I nominate the same person in more than one category?
Yes, but submit a separate nomination for each, with a case written for that specific category. A single case copied across categories tends to score poorly in all of them.
Is my nomination made public?
The shortlist is published, so a nominee who is shortlisted becomes public. Your details as the nominator are not published at any point, and are not shown on the ballot.
How does voting stop people voting twice?
Each vote is tied to a phone number verified by one-time code, and a number can vote once per category. Phone numbers are stored hashed rather than in the clear, and the vote itself is time-gated on our servers so it cannot be cast outside the voting window.
When does voting open?
The voting window has not been announced yet. It is published here and on the homepage as soon as the organisers confirm it.
Something not covered here? Email awards@techaiexpo.co, or read how your data is handled in the privacy notice.
Know someone who should win?
It takes about ten minutes. You need the nominee's details, a short case, and a couple of links.