Afreximbank launches $50,000 Create-thon with gaming category for African creators
The competition will award $7,000 for first place, $3,500 for second, and $1,500 for third in each category
African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has partnered with Gebeya to launch the CANEX Create-thon 2026, a competition that includes a dedicated gaming category and offers a total prize pool of $50,000.
Through its Creative Africa Nexus (CANEX) programme, the initiative invites amateur, emerging and established creators from across Africa to develop working projects in music, video and gaming during a four-day creation sprint taking place from August 20th to 24th.
Participants will use Gebeya's Dala Studio platform alongside computing resources and technical support to build prototypes or completed projects rather than pitch concepts.
Creator support
According to the organisers, creators can participate individually or in teams and will receive guidance from 30 to 40 ambassadors from Gebeya's community network throughout the sprint.
The competition will award first, second and third place in each category, with winners receiving $7,000, $3,500 and $1,500 respectively. Additional awards of $500 will also be presented to qualifying finalists.
Eligible submissions will undergo technology-assisted screening before advancing to a public voting stage to determine the top 100 projects. An expert panel from the creative, technology and business sectors will then select the winners.
Registration opens on July 30th and closes on August 19th. First-place winners in each category will also receive the opportunity to attend CANEX WKND 2026, taking place at the National Theatre in Lagos, Nigeria, from November 5th to 8th. Interested creators can register here.
