Four Kenyan women win hackathon with an AI fare-payment system for matatus
The team behind Naulisako beat 40 other young developers in a 30-hour contest at Konza Technopolis and will now compete against winners from five other African countries.
Konza — Four Kenyan women have won the third GirlCode Kenya Hackathon with an AI-powered system for collecting fares on matatus, the minibuses that carry most of the country's commuters, Capital FM reports.
Mary Wangui, Linet Mugwanja, Aisha Barasa and Cynthia Chepkorir built Naulisako, a digital fare-collection platform, during a 30-hour competition at Konza Technopolis, the technology city under construction south-east of Nairobi.
Forty-four competitors
The hackathon brought together 44 young women, among them students, graduates, developers and entrepreneurs.
Two other projects were placed in the top three. A team called Biots built Biashara Bot, a tool that helps small businesses keep financial records. Korva presented Korva Creatives Economy, which gathers a creator's income from different sources in one place.
The winners receive laptops, tablets, speakers and headsets.
Next, a continental final
The Kenyan team now goes forward to a pan-African round against winners from South Africa, Tanzania, Ghana, Botswana and Uganda. The overall winners are due to be announced on 12 October and will share a prize of R100,000, about Sh790,655, along with six months of incubation support.
The event was organised by GirlCode, a South African non-profit led by its chief executive, Zandile Mkwanazi, with Absa Bank Kenya and the Konza Technopolis Development Authority.
Matatu fares are still paid mostly in cash, and operators and passengers have long complained about disputes over change and about money that goes missing between conductor and owner.
This report is based on reporting by Capital FM, via AllAfrica. The continental result was still pending when it was written.
