Onome Amuge
Africa Creative Market (ACM), in partnership with Ascend Studios Foundation, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and pan-African innovation hub Co-Creation Hub (CcHub), has launched a new hackathon designed to accelerate technology-driven solutions for Africa’s creative industries.
The ACM Hackathon 2025, themed “Distribute Africa: Hacking the Future of Music & Film Access”, will run from September 16 to 19 in Lagos, Nigeria. It offers a N10 million prize for the winning team, along with post-event incubation, investor access, and technical support.
Organisers said the four-day event is intended to address long-standing challenges in how African films and music are distributed, protected, and monetised. Piracy, poor digital infrastructure, revenue leakages, and limited discovery tools have historically constrained growth in one of the continent’s most dynamic sectors.
“At ACM, our goal is to bring innovation into the creative sector in a big way — using the brightest of African talents to solve our most urgent creative economy challenges,” said Inya Lawal, founder of Africa Creative Market.
Africa’s creative industries, particularly Nollywood and Afrobeats , have become global cultural exports, with Nigeria’s film sector alone contributing nearly three per cent of the country’s GDP and generating hundreds of thousands of jobs. Yet weak distribution frameworks and limited monetisation avenues mean that much of the value is lost before it reaches creators.
Industry analysts argue that the future of Africa’s cultural exports lies in technology-enabled distribution. Mobile-first platforms, AI-driven discovery tools, and secure digital rights management systems are widely seen as essential for scaling reach while safeguarding intellectual property.
To this end, the hackathon will convene multidisciplinary teams of three to five members, combining skills in software development, UI/UX design, content strategy, business modelling, and data science. Over the course of the sprint, participants will work from ACM’s base at Landmark Event Centre and CcHub’s headquarters in Lagos. Daily sessions will run from 9am to 3pm, with mentorship, high-speed internet, and meals provided.
The winning team will receive N10 million in cash but also a package of support intended to accelerate ideas into market-ready solutions. Benefits include access to AWS credit programmes and technical support, incubation through CcHub’s startup studio, and legal and business development services. Teams will also pitch to investors at the Demo Day on September 19.
Organisers emphasised that the hackathon is not just about short-term solutions but about seeding long-term, scalable platforms. “The vision is to ignite Africa-led innovation that transforms distribution into a thriving, inclusive, and profitable ecosystem for creators,” ACM said in its statement.
Applications opened on August 29 and will close on September 5. Selected teams will be notified on September 8. Eligibility is open to African innovators aged 18 to 40 with a passion for building creative-tech solutions.
