Four young Kenyan women are set to represent the country at the upcoming continental finals of the Absa Bank Kenya–GirlCode Women-in-Tech Hackathon. This is after their innovation, an AI-powered fintech platform dubbed “Jasho – Powering Your Hustle”, emerged victorious in the national round.
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The winning team, Team Avytria, is made up of women aged between 21 and 26. Their solution stood out for its focus on empowering gig economy workers and persons with disabilities. Jasho uses artificial intelligence to offer real-time expense tracking, personalised financial coaching and fraud prevention tools.
The platform features support for facial recognition and voice commands. This makes it much easier for users with disabilities to manage their finances independently.
The 2025 edition of the GirlCode Hackathon brought together 112 participants aged between 18 and 35 who developed practical solutions that align with Kenya’s broader digital transformation goals over a 30-hour coding challenge.
Speaking during the award ceremony, Charles Wokabi, Vice President and Head of Sustainability and Corporate Affairs at Absa Bank Kenya, praised the participants for their innovation and resilience.
“These teams have shown great creativity and problem-solving under very intense conditions. Each team had an opportunity to pitch ideas focused on financial inclusion, cyber security and fraud prevention before a highly experienced panel of judges,” he said.
He added that the top three teams will gain access to a dedicated incubation programme through a partnership between Absa Kenya Foundation and ALX.
The Pan-African winner will walk away with USD 5,500 (around KES 700,000) in prize money. The competition attracted more than 450 young women from seven cities across Africa, a significant jump from 280 in 2024.
According to Zandile Mkwanazi, Founder and CEO of GirlCode, the initiative continues to play a vital role in bridging the gender gap in Africa’s technology ecosystem.
“This hackathon gives women the platform to showcase their skills, be innovative, and develop real solutions to real problems within their communities,” she noted.
The Nairobi event’s judging panel included Muthoni Kanyana, CEO of MK-Africa; Lucy Mbuthia, Country Manager, Women in Tech Kenya; and senior Absa Bank executives including Mumbi Kahindo (Chief People Officer), Moses Okundi (Chief Information Officer), and Seline Awuor (Head of Digital Marketing and Next Gen).
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