By: Nana
Appiah Acquaye
The African Space Agency and
Agence Spatiale de Côte d'Ivoire (ASCI), in collaboration with CURAT at
Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny, have held the first edition of the
SpatiELLES Hackathon as part of the African Space Exposition (ASPEX) 2026.
The all-women space
hackathon was designed to showcase African female talent in space science and
technology, bringing together young women developing innovative solutions to
address development challenges across the continent.
Hedia Chakroun, Professor in
Hydraulic Engineering at ENIT, University of Tunis El Manar, Founder of AGEOS
NGO and a researcher in geospatial technologies, served as Chair of the Jury
for the SpatiELLES Hackathon.
The competition highlighted
the creativity and determination of young women working on solutions in space
science and technology, with projects demonstrating the potential of the next
generation of African space leaders.
Teams from Tunisia, South
Africa and Tanzania emerged as the top three performers in the first edition of
the hackathon. Tunisia took the 1st Prize, followed by South Africa in 2nd
place and Tanzania in 3rd place.
Chakroun also contributed to
the Africa GNSS-Lab Working Group, where she collaborated with Ms. Aicha Aliou
of SatNav Africa JPO, Mr Adama KANE, Dr. FATMA TRABELSI BOUCHENDIRA, and
partners from Yoonir Smart Solution and Université Iba Der THIAM de Thiès.
The SpatiELLES Hackathon
forms part of broader efforts to promote women's participation in Africa's
space science and technology ecosystem and create opportunities for emerging
female talent to contribute to solutions addressing the continent's development
challenges.
