Three youth-led teams from Siaya County received national recognition on Wednesday at the Kenya Software & AI Summit for developing practical digital solutions aimed at solving critical challenges for local small businesses.
The teams, winners of a hackathon held last month at the Siaya Community Digital Hub, were honored at the summit hosted at Moi University Annex Campus. Their innovations, a farm marketplace, an SME inventory manager, and an informal sector job platform, were celebrated as prime examples of Kenya’s strategy to foster grassroots digital innovation.
The winning solutions emerged from an intensive 72-hour hackathon in October, which involved 35 young innovators, including students from Bondo Technical Training Institute and Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of Science and Technology.
The initiative was a strategic partnership between Konza Technopolis, the Ministry of ICT and the Digital Economy, and Huawei Kenya. Konza provided leadership via its Jitume Program, while Huawei offered expert mentorship and its AppCube low-code platform, which allowed the teams to build functional prototypes quickly.
The judges recognized three teams for creating viable, localized solutions. First place was awarded to the DigitalNest Team for AGRILINK BONDO, a digital agricultural management and marketplace system. It connects farmers, buyers, and financial institutions to enhance market access, transparency, and financial inclusion for rural farmers. The second-place Sentry Team developed Dhibiti Stock, a digital platform helping Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) efficiently manage inventory, sales, and daily operations. The tool provides data analytics to help owners make informed decisions and access funding. In third place, the Solutech Team created Kazi-hub, a platform designed to connect job seekers in the informal sector with nearby employment opportunities, simplifying recruitment for local businesses and making job hunting more accessible.
Konza Technopolis CEO John Paul Okwiri described the Jitume Digital Hubs as “crucial decentralized nodes of the Silicon Savannah,” adding that the goal extends beyond employment. “Our national digital skilling programs are… about preparing the youth to become creators of global digital value.”
Michael Kamau, ICT Academy Manager at Huawei Kenya, noted the importance of localized innovation. “The Siaya Hackathon focused on ensuring that digital prosperity is not confined to one city but is distributed nationwide,” Kamau said. “These three winning teams are the newest stars in our national innovation constellation.”
The recognition of the Siaya teams at the national summit highlights a model that taps into youth-driven creativity to support local economic growth.
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