• Last week Huawei held its Developer Competition, where startups across the African continent showcased their solutions to tackle local problems.
• Six finalists walked away with prize money on the day, coming from South Africa, Kenya Nigeria, and Tanzania.
• It was Kenyan wealth management startup Dvara which nabbed the top honours for its Spark Money solution.

The Huawei Developers Competition (HDC), or rather the awards ceremony for the competition, took place last week Friday on 18th November, where six finalists whittled down from more than 130 African entrants showcased their solutions designed to tackle problems on the continent.

“Themed Spark Infinity, this year’s competition encouraged African cloud developers to find novel solutions to real problems. More than 130 teams participated in the first phase which ran for four months and drew from enterprises, college students and independent developers, from across the Southern Africa region,” explained Huawei in a press release sent to Hypertext.

The finalists came from countries like South Africa, Nigeria, and Tanzania, but it was Kenyan wealth management startup Dvara (pictured above) that walked away with the grand prize on the day for its Spark Money solution.

All six finalists received cash prizes and Huawei devices. The Kenyan winners Dvara with Spark Money got $10 000, as well as a Huawei MatePad for each of its team members.

Team NAC from Tanzania took second place along with an $8 000 prize. South African teams Astel Systems, Innovo Networks and Malcam Solutions collectively placed third with each team winning $5 000 and a Huawei Watch Fit for team members, while Team Maverick from Nigeria won the Cloud Ace Award and $2 000.

“The Huawei Developers Competition (HDC) encourages developers to give full play to their imagination and innovative spirit, by using ICT technologies to solve practical problems and create unlimited value. We were very impressed by the caliber of entries and all six teams who reached the final phase delivered outstanding projects, each worthy in their own merit,” noted Roc Bai, VP of Huawei Cloud Southern Africa, regarding the solutions from the finalists.

“The finalists in this competition are all worthy of their place. The significance of this for local ICT talent development is undoubted. I believe that African developers will be excited to participate in future HUAWEI CLOUD competitions,” added one of the judges, Emeritus Professor at the Wits, Barry Dwolatzky.