Whether you’re an innovator, activist, or tech enthusiast, this is your opportunity to collaborate with changemakers, tackle real-world challenges, and pioneer technologies that drive transparency, accountability, and inclusive decision-making in the region.
Civic Hive’s Hack4Democracy in West Africa
Hack4Democracy is an annual hackathon bringing together CivicTech innovators, activists, and organizations across West Africa to create cutting-edge digital solutions for democratic engagement. By leveraging technology, participants tackle challenges such as voter apathy, electoral fraud, misinformation, and shrinking civic spaces. In the last two decades, The West Africa region has experienced significant political changes in recent years, with growing demands for greater transparency, accountability, and citizen engagement in democratic processes.
While some progress has been made in democratic governance, challenges such as voter apathy, military incursion in democracy, electoral fraud, lack of access to information, and limited avenues for citizen participation persist.
Through our Hack4Democracy Hackathon, we are bringing civic-tech leaders across the region, to design civic technology prototypes focused on democratic participation, human rights advancement, and good governance reform that are scalable across the West Africa sub-region.
This hackathon will provide opportunity for civictech innovators, activists, and civil society organizations to collaborate and develop digital solutions that enable citizens to actively participate in democratic process, decision-making, and governance.
Benefits
Here are some of the benefits of the Hack4Democracy.
- Fully funded logistics and accommodation for participating organizations within West Africa.
- Take off grants and technical support to develop and launch products.
Eligibility
Our hackathon focuses on solving critical issues in democracy through these five thematic areas.
Applicants must be residents or citizens of one of the 15 West African countries:
- Benin
- Burkina Faso
- Cape Verde, Côte d’Ivoire
- Gambia
- Ghana
- Guinea
- Guinea-Bissau
- Liberia
- Mali
- Mauritania
- Niger
- Nigeria
- Senegal
- Sierra Leone
- Togo
Applicants of all ages are welcome, but the hackathon also encourages applications from organizations from Sahelian Countries such as Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger.
- While technical skills are highly encouraged, non-technical participants with experience in governance, political activism, civic education, or communication are equally welcome to ensure the solutions are aligned with real-world needs.
All proposed projects and solutions must align with the core theme of the hackathon, which is to use technology to:
- Enhance citizen participation in democratic processes;
- Promote transparency and accountability in government;
- Prevent Internet Shutdowns and shrinking civic spaces;
- Combat misinformation and improve political literacy;
- Strengthen e-governance and digital civic engagement.
- The hackathon will be conducted in English and French. Participants must be proficient in at least one of these languages to effectively collaborate with others, engage in discussions, and present their solutions.
Participation Fees: There are no participation fees for selected applicants. Civic Hive will be responsible for transportation, accommodation, and meals during the hackathons and summit period.
