The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) will hold its 2026 International Cybersecurity Hackathon from 27 to 28 October in Abuja, moving the competition into its final 48-hour build stage after registration and qualification activities.
The hackathon will take place alongside the International Cybersecurity Conference 2026 at the Abuja Continental Hotel. NITDA describes it as an innovation sprint where participating teams will build solutions for problems affecting Nigeria’s digital economy.
What Will Participants Build?
The competition has six tracks, meaning participants are not limited to cybersecurity projects. They will compete in:
- Fintech and Financial Inclusion
- AgriTech and Food Security
- HealthTech and Telemedicine
- GovTech and Public Services
- EdTech and Skills Development
- Cybersecurity and Digital Trust
NITDA says solutions must be original work created during the event. The tracks are therefore designed around specific problems rather than allowing teams to simply present an existing product.
What Happens During the 48 Hours?
The official hackathon website describes the event as a 48-hour build sprint. It does not publish a detailed hour-by-hour programme or explain exactly how teams will be assessed at each stage.
What it does confirm is that teams will select a challenge track, develop an original solution during the event, and compete for the final awards.
The event is expected to bring together more than 500 participants, according to the official hackathon website.
What Can the Winners Get?
The competition has a prize pool of more than ₦10 million. The awards listed by NITDA are:
- First place: ₦5 million, 12-month incubation, and an opportunity for government pilot deployment.
- Second place: ₦3 million, six-month accelerator access, and NITDA mentorship.
- Third place: ₦2 million, three-month accelerator access, and seed mentorship.
NITDA also says winners will receive pathways into its accelerator programme.
The government pilot opportunity is particularly significant, but it should not be interpreted as a guaranteed government contract. NITDA’s wording only says winners will have an opportunity to pilot their solutions with a federal government agency.
Can Builders Still Register?
No, based on the current official schedule.
NITDA’s hackathon website lists 27 July 2026 as the registration deadline and states that late submissions would not be accepted. It also lists pre-qualification activities for 10–20 August, qualification activities for September, and 20 September as the date by which all activities were expected to be completed.
What Should Selected Teams Expect Next?
The next major date is 27 October, when the 48-hour build sprint begins.
NITDA has not publicly published a detailed post-qualification checklist on the hackathon page explaining when selected teams will receive final instructions, what they must bring, or the precise judging process. Builders who have already qualified should therefore rely on direct communication from the organisers rather than assume that information from older hackathon announcements applies to this edition.
The official website lists hackathon@nitda.gov.ng as the event contact email.
The event venue is the Abuja Continental Hotel, and NITDA’s event listing places the wider International Cybersecurity Conference in Abuja on 27–28 October. The published information does not state that the hackathon can be attended remotely.
For Nigerian builders who already made it through the selection process, the focus now shifts from applying to building, testing, and presenting a solution within the 48-hour competition window.
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