Dating and Social Networks Solutions - Kaduna, Nigeria

Jul 30, 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM (UTC)

Africa’s Talking Open Community | West Africa Hub

Connection shouldn’t require a smartphone or an expensive data plan. This hackathon invites builders to design inclusive, safe social and dating experiences that reach every kind of phone across Africa, with privacy and safety at the core.

47 RSVPs

AppsBest PracticesCommunityHackathonIn-personSMS APIUSSD API

About this event

Connection in Africa increasingly begins on a phone, but the smartphone-dating-app model leaves out huge numbers of people on feature phones, prepaid data, and tight budgets. Safety, verification, and reachability matter as much as matching.

Teams can build profile verification, USSD and SMS matching for any handset, safety and consent features, event meetups, and community moderation. The space is wide open to design how people meet, connect, and build trust across the full range of devices.

Objectives

  •  Enable matchmaking and social interaction on feature phones.
  •  Protect users with privacy-preserving contact and verification.
  •  Monetize engagement through premium tiers and mobile money.

Addressable Challenges and API Links

    1.  USSD-based matchmaking: Browse and match from feature phones via simple menus. 
    2.  Match & message alerts: Notify users of new matches and messages instantly.
    3.  Premium subscriptions: Monetize tiers through Premium SMS billing.
    4.  Safe call connect: Number-masking voice intros for privacy.
    5.  Engagement rewards: Send airtime to encourage positive participation.
    6.  Identity & safety verification: OTP-based verification to reduce fake profiles.

    What Participants Should Expect

    •  Hands-on technical apprenticeship and API integration sessions.
    •  Networking with industry experts, founders, and tech innovators.
    •  Support from mentors and a community of peers to refine your ideas.
    •  Exclusive prizes, swag, and on-the-spot gig opportunities.


    New to Africa's Talking? Get started here.

    Developer Documentation (We welcome feedback)

    THEME: Dating and Social Networks Solutions

    The winning solution will receive cash prizes as follows:

    • Winner - ₦80,000
    • 1st Runners Up - ₦60,000
    • 2nd Runners Up - ₦40,000


    Take It Further: Make It Marketplace-Ready

    Winning the hackathon is just the start. Turn your build into a packaged, reusable product that any business on the Africa’s Talking Marketplace can subscribe to and deploy as their own running instance.


    What Makes a Solution Marketplace-Ready

    A marketplace-ready solution isn’t just a working app. It’s a packaged, reusable, deployable product. Think of it less as “my project” and more as “a plugin other businesses can pay to deploy.” To qualify, your submission should meet the following:

    •  Containerized and pushed to the registry. Built into a Docker image and pushed to the AT-Container registry (manual push or a CI/CD pipeline via GitHub, GitLab, or Bitbucket).
    •  Built on at least one AT product. Integrate with one or more of USSD, Voice, Airtime, Insights, Bulk SMS, Premium SMS, or Mobile Data.
    •  Reusable by many. Unlike a private callback, a marketplace plugin is publicly listed and deployable by any customer, and each gets their own isolated instance with its own URL (e.g. https://your-app.africastalking.marketplace.dev).
    •  Clearly presented. It needs a name, slug, short and long descriptions, and a logo (required; a missing logo blocks submission).
    •  Configurable. Expose any environment variables customers should set at deploy time, and declare your database needs (default: none).
    •  Monetizable. At least one pricing plan is required, each specifying currency, amount, billing frequency, and a description.
    •  Categorized and compliant. Tag it with at least one AT product and industry (Gaming, Education, Clean Energy, Fintech, Government, or Other), and accept the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.

    In short: if a stranger could find your plugin, pick a pricing plan, click Deploy, and get a live working instance, then it’s marketplace-ready.


    How to Submit Your Marketplace Solution

    1.  Sign in to the Marketplace at marketplace.africastalking.dev (create an account first if needed).
    2.  Build and push your image. Containerize your app and push it to the AT-Container registry using the credentials and instructions in the submission form.
    3.  From the homepage, click “Create Your Own Plugin.”
    4.  Complete the submission form, section by section: container registry credentials; basic plugin info (name, slug, short + long description, logo); technical details (image URL, optional Git repo, database); environment variables (optional); categorization (AT product + industry, at least one); pricing plans (at least one with currency, amount, frequency, description); and accept the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
    5.  Submit. A confetti animation confirms success; an error toast means something needs fixing (most often a missing logo or required field).
    6.  Track approval under “Manage Plugins” in the side menu, where you can view review status, see admin feedback, edit, archive, or publish your plugin.


    Africa's Talking powers communications solutions across Africa with simplified access to telco infrastructure, developers use our powerful SMS, USSD, Voice, Airtime, and Payments APIs 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.

    • Technology used.

    3. Demonstration and Wrap-up

    Opportunities:

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

    4. Publish on the Marketplace: publish your solution on the Africa’s Talking Marketplace to be considered a winner.

    Submit your Idea:

    Hackathon idea submission form (This form should be filled by all hackathon attendees planning to present it will be used to reach out to them later)

    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 (Anyone open to take Gigs should fill this form and it can be shared with developer attendees of AT events)

    Join community channels:

    Slack:

    Please follow us on

    • Twitter handles @AfricasTalking @atdevskd
    • Instagram & Linkedln @ATCommunityKaduna
    • Join Africa's Talking Kaduna Developers Community WhatsApp group here

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


    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 quickly.

    Would you like to partner with us? Kindly contact the Developer Experience Team (developerexperience@africastalking.com).

    Mentors

    • Abubakar Saleh

      Africas Talking

      Community Lead

    • Sanusi Abdulkadir

      Africa's Talking Community Lead

      Software Engineer

    • Shuaib Lawal Khalifa

      Soft School

      Co-founder & Product Designer

    • Ibrahim Salaudeen

      Data Expo

      Insight Officer

    Facilitator

    • Maryam Muhammed

      Quantum Heart & Droneforge

      MD & Co-founder

    When

    When

    Thursday, July 30, 2026
    9:00 AM – 3:00 PM (UTC)

    Agenda

    9:00 AMWarm-Up
    9:30 AMBuilding/Hacking
    1:00 PMLunch
    2:00 PMDemonstration and Wrap-Up

    Host

    • Sulaiman Maina

      The BlockCapitol

    Organizers

    • Sanusi Abdulkadir

      Community Lead Kaduna, Nigeria 🇳🇬

    • Jeremy Acquaah

      Africa's Talking

      Community Lead Ghana 🇬🇭

    • Husseini Mudi

      Software Developer/Community Manager

    • Faith Ono

      Abuja Community Co-Lead

    • Abdulsalam Muhammad Abubakar

      Community Lead Kano

    • David Adegbite

      Abuja Community Co-Lead

    • Sheriffo Jarju

      Gambia Community Lead

    • Ibrahima Sylla

      YeleGroup

      Ivory Coast Community Lead

    Global sponsor

    Africa's Talking logo

    Africa's Talking

    Partner

    Block Capitol logo

    Block Capitol

    CONTACT US