The MCP Hackathon showcased Africa’s bold steps toward AI sovereignty, bringing together innovators from across the continent to build solutions rooted in the Model Context Protocol. With MakwaIT’s own digital platforms lead, Lesedi Modibane, playing a central role, the event not only highlighted Africa’s rising AI capabilities but also reinforced MakwaIT’s commitment to shaping intelligent, context-aware digital ecosystems for the future.
The MCP Hackathon is an initiative of The Cortex Hub, a leading ICT business incubator dedicated to developing global-ready innovators through advanced research and development.
This groundbreaking initiative brought together 541 participants from across Africa, representing universities, startups, researchers, and entrepreneurs from 26 countries to build Model Context Protocol (MCP) solutions that address real-world challenges while advancing Africa’s participation in global AI innovation.
This important initiative deeply resonated with MakwaIT, inspiring us to amplify our commitment to innovation by proudly supporting the MCP Hackathon as a Gold Sponsor.
The Mother City was abuzz between 10 and 13 November, after an exciting and intense 8-week structured bootcamp, the hackathon culminated in a vibrant finale at the Africa Tech Festival in Cape Town, where teams showcased the depth of Africa’s talent and creativity, and winners were announced.
At the 2025 MCP Hackathon Africa finale, Rapscameup, Direla, and Meducate emerged as the big winners.
Africa’s growing role in defining global AI standards
MakwaIT celebrates Africa’s growing role in defining global AI standards, transforming the continent from a consumer of technology to a creator of interoperable, sovereign AI infrastructure.
MakwaIT’s business unit lead for digital platforms and solutions, Lesedi Modibane, was deeply involved in the MCP Hackathon, from speaking at the MakwaIT and MCP Hackathon webinar to judging at the grand finale. Lesedi reflects on his Hackathon experience and personal takeaways from it.
"Africa has an abundance of talent and young critical thinkers. This was evident in the number of registrants from all over the continent and other countries, too,” Lesedi explains.
“The experience was fantastic, seeing the number and types of solutions contestants came up with, the subject areas they chose, and the embedding of concepts like service design, UX. My personal view is that all the contestants are winners because they have embraced the arrival of a value-laden, MCP architecture. It is for Africa to take charge and lead in designing, developing, and commercialising MCP solutions, and this was clear throughout the submissions.”
Lesedi went on to share how engaging with such diverse ideas and solution approaches influenced his thinking and priorities:
“For one, the usage of MCP in AI solutions is a definite game-changer, especially in the African context. To get tailored, custom-made, commercially viable business solutions. For Makwa IT, MCP amplifies our ability to build intelligent, context-aware digital ecosystems, strengthening the company’s value proposition across AI, platforms, and integrated technology solutions. It positions Makwa at the forefront of next-generation enterprise AI delivery,” he highlights.
According to Lesedi, Makwa IT will be able to deliver solutions across cloud, analytics, automation, and application stacks.
“MCP ensures that AI models and tools understand the same contextual state, eliminating data fragmentation and enabling consistent decision-making across systems,” he adds.
A cause for good, inspiration and personal growth
The MCP Hackathon was more than a competition – it was a catalyst for inspiration, collaboration, and professional evolution.
And what good is an initiative if it does not inspire personal and professional growth? “I picked up a few principles underpinning the Hackathon,” Lesedi reflects. “From scaling up the Africa AI economy, to ensuring equal access to opportunities, to driving and supporting tech entrepreneurs in Africa, to positioning technology and digital platforms at the centre of the growth of the continent. Participating in the hackathon has strengthened Makwa IT’s resolve to focus on solutioning for the African Market.”
“For a digital and data-driven business like Makwa, MCP strengthens solution delivery, integration capability, and client outcomes in several critical pathways, including unified context across platforms, faster, smarter digital transformation, and better client experience and personalisation,” he concludes.
