The Insurance Solutions Hackathon is a groundbreaking event focused on transforming how Africans access, purchase, and benefit from insurance through technology. In a continent where insurance penetration remains critically low with millions of individuals, farmers, SMEs, and informal workers underserved or entirely excluded this hackathon invites developers, designers, data scientists, and entrepreneurs to create practical, scalable solutions built for the African insurance landscape.

With access to Africa's Talking APIs, mentorship, and a community of innovators, participants will build across key areas of insurtech delivering solutions that are impactful, inclusive, and market-ready.

Addressable Problems in Insurance Solutions

• Microinsurance & Informal Sector Coverage - Build affordable, bite-sized insurance products for informal workers, boda boda riders, market traders, and low-income households distributed via USSD, SMS, or M-Pesa integrations.

• Agricultural & Parametric Insurance - Develop weather-indexed crop insurance platforms, satellite-based loss assessment tools, and automated payout systems that protect smallholder farmers from climate and yield risks.

• Health Insurance & Medical Cover Access - Create digital health insurance enrollment platforms, NHIF integration tools, telemedicine-linked cover products, and claims management systems for individuals and employer groups.

• Motor & Vehicle Insurance Technology - Design usage-based insurance platforms, digital motor policy issuance tools, accident reporting apps, telematics-driven premium pricing, and e-sticker verification systems.

• Claims Processing & Fraud Detection - Build AI-powered claims automation platforms, document verification tools, fraud pattern detection systems, and real-time claims status tracking for insurers and policyholders.

• Insurance Distribution & Agency Management - Develop digital agent onboarding platforms, commission tracking tools, mobile-first policy sales apps, and aggregator marketplaces that expand insurance reach to underserved communities.

• SME & Business Insurance Solutions - Create tailored insurance products for small businesses covering fire, stock, liability, and business interruption with seamless digital onboarding and M-Pesa premium collection.

• Life Insurance & Savings Products - Design digital life cover platforms, funeral insurance products, education savings plans, and hybrid investment-insurance tools targeted at middle and low-income earners.

• Risk Assessment & Underwriting Analytics - Build AI-driven underwriting engines, alternative data scoring tools, and risk profiling platforms that extend coverage to customers with limited credit or insurance history.

• Insurance Education & Customer Awareness - Create platforms that educate citizens on insurance products, demystify policy terms, simulate premium costs, and guide users through the claims process in local languages.

• Regulatory Technology (RegTech) for Insurance - Develop tools that help insurers comply with IRA regulations, automate reporting, manage KYC/AML obligations, and maintain audit trails for policy and claims transactions

• Embedded & On-Demand Insurance - Build APIs and platforms that embed insurance into everyday transactions travel bookings, e-commerce checkouts, ride-hailing trips, and mobile loans enabling instant, contextual cover.

Objectives

• Bridge the Insurtech Gap: Create solutions that improve access, affordability, and trust in African insurance markets.

• Foster Local Innovation: Empower African builders to solve Africa's unique insurance penetration and distribution challenges.

• Promote Financial Inclusion: Build tools that bring formal insurance protection to the unbanked, underserved, and informal sectors.

• Encourage Responsible Development: Prioritize data privacy, regulatory compliance, and ethical AI in insurance platforms.

• Enable Impact at Scale: Ensure solutions can grow to serve millions of policyholders, agents, and insurers across Africa.

  

Target Attendees

• Developers & Engineers: With experience in mobile/web development, APIs, or scalable fintech platforms.

• Insurance & Actuarial Professionals: Underwriters, claims handlers, and actuaries bringing essential domain expertise.

• AI/ML & Data Scientists: Experts building risk models, fraud detection systems, and claims analytics.

• Students & Learners: With a passion for technology, finance, and expanding access to insurance.

• Social Entrepreneurs & NGOs: Focused on microinsurance, agricultural cover, and informal sector protection.

• UX/UI Designers: To reimagine the policy purchase, claims, and customer service experience.

• Finance & Regulatory Experts: Bringing IRA compliance, bancassurance, and fintech regulation domain knowledge.
  

Why Participate

• Access to Tools & APIs: Leverage Africa's Talking SMS, USSD, Voice, and Airtime APIs to build scalable insurance solutions.

• Mentorship & Workshops: Learn from seasoned professionals in insurtech, actuarial science, and financial inclusion.

• Collaborative Innovation: Team up across disciplines — tech, design, domain expertise — to bring ideas to life.

• Cash Prizes & Recognition: Win exciting rewards and showcase your solution to the wider Africa's Talking ecosystem.

• Real-World Impact: Build solutions that extend insurance protection to millions of underserved Africans.

• Talent & Gig Opportunities: Get discovered — connect with customers and partners looking to hire or commission builders.

Prizes

The winning solution will receive cash prizes as follows:

• Winner - $100 (Join Marketplace Program)

• 1st Runners Up - $50

• 2nd Runners Up - $25

Africa's Talking powers communications solutions across Africa with simplified access to telco infrastructure. Developers use our powerful SMS, USSD, Voice, Chat, Airtime and Mobile Data to bring their ideas to life, as they build and sustain scalable businesses.

Agenda

1. Warm-Up

• Introductions

• Form teams where need be

• Feedback

• Feature requests

2. Building/hacking

Code in GitHub/GitLab/BitBucket and deploy in Docker/Automated CI/Travis CI/Bamboo

Note: This section needs additional setup.

Upon commit, the repository is built and deployed to an accessible web server or an S3 bucket.

3. Demonstration and Wrap-up

Teams or individuals will demo what they have hacked for feedback or adoption.

Note: Carry a laptop

Opportunities

• Network

• Innovate

• Access to our Talent bench (You can get a job or a gig on the spot)

New to Africa's Talking? Get started here.

Publish on Africa's Talking Marketplace

Marketplace: Get Call Back as a Service and Publish your plugin/app for our customer.

Developer Documentation (We welcome feedback)

New to Africa's Talking? Get started here.

Submit your Idea

• Hackathon idea submission form

Gigs

We would love to reach out to you so that you can build for our customers, please fill out this form with details to ensure we have your details:

GIG/HACK DEVELOPER PORTFOLIO FORM

Join community channels

Slack

Join Africa's Talking slack community here

Please follow our Twitter handles to:

• @AfricasTalking

• @ElarianHQ

You can get our videos, recaps, and event interviews on our youtube channels, subscribe to get updates:

• Africa's Talking Youtube Channel

Africa's Talking community allows developers to learn skills for the modern-day African Developer. We are language and framework agnostic. All developers are welcome. This is where Africa's Talking developers community meets to build, learn and exchange knowledge.

We are helping software developers and businesses to bring their ideas to life through easy-to-use APIs easily.

Would you like to partner with us? Kindly contact the Developer Experience Team.