Dala Studio Create-thon Names Nine Winners at CANEX

In Short

Afreximbank has announced nine winners of the CANEX Create-thon, a competition run through its Creative Africa Nexus (CANEX) programme and powered by Gebeya.

The winners were selected across gaming, video and music, after finalists pitched live in Lagos.

What Happened: How The CANEX Create-thon Worked

Afreximbank ran the CANEX Create-thon in partnership with Gebeya and the Afreximbank Innovation Lab. The competition asked creators to turn African-inspired ideas into working projects using Dala Studio.

Dala Studio is a product creators used with AI tools, meaning software that can generate or help produce content like images, audio, and video. Participants used it to produce digital games, videos, and music. Afreximbank said creators were supported with computing resources and technical guidance.

The live pitch finale was held at the Wole Soyinka Centre for Cultural and Creative Arts in Lagos. Afreximbank said the session also marked the official launch of the Afreximbank Innovation Lab.

Gebeya said around 6,000 creators from 43 countries participated, submitting 792 games, music tracks and videos built on Dala Studio. The top three creators in each category advanced to the live pitch finale.

Winners, Judges, And Prize Pool

Afreximbank listed nine category winners.

Gaming winners were Feven Birhanu, first place, Micheal Nomyongo, second place, and Angulu Paul Otoroza, third place.

Video winners were Racheal Ifeoma Ogugua, first place, Hassan Ahmed, second place, and Temilorun Okediji, third place.

Music winners were Ndaya Victoria Mulidiki, first place, David AMA, second place, and Nadia Eman Ibrahim, third place.

The competition offered a total prize pool of US$50,000. Under its published award structure, first-, second- and third-place prizes in each category are US$7,000, US$3,500 and US$1,500 respectively. The structure also includes additional awards for qualifying creators from the top 20 African countries.

The judging panel included Oluwasemilore Oludipe of Co-creation HUB (CcHUB), Mayenzeke Baza of CEEIT, and Miebaka Anga of YouTube.

Why It Matters

In opening remarks, Temwa Gondwe, Director, Creatives and Diaspora at Afreximbank, said Africa’s creative influence must translate into “greater ownership and economic returns.” He called for affordable computing power, accessible creative tools, effective distribution channels and stronger protection of creators’ intellectual property.

“The question is not whether Africa will participate. The question is how much value Africa will create and own and retain,” Gondwe said.

Gebeya CEO and co-founder Amadou Daffe urged young Africans to move beyond experimenting with AI and build products and services that generate income. “Knowledge is in the pocket. The question is, what do you do with it?” he said.