About the challenge

The Zanzibar Create with AI STEAM Challenge 2027 invites every secondary school in Unguja and Pemba to take part, free of charge. Teams of students, guided by a teacher-mentor, choose a real problem in their community and build a working solution that uses artificial intelligence (AI).

Why

AI is changing how people learn, work and solve problems. The challenge gives Zanzibar's young people a practical, hands-on chance to use AI tools, to understand what AI can and cannot do, and to use it responsibly, while working on problems that matter to their families and communities.

What students do

Work in teams of 3 or 4 students, from Forms 1 to 5, with at least one girl in each team.
Choose one of four categories: Blue Economy, Environment and Climate; Learning, Kiswahili and Inclusion; Health, Wellbeing and Community Services; or Creative AI: Arts, Culture and Tourism.
Build and test a prototype, keep an honest record of how they used AI, and explain their project in a short brief and video.

How it works

Judges score every project on the same seven criteria. The Top 50 go into a public gallery, where people vote for their favourites by SMS. The Top 20 finalists present at the finale on Saturday 15 May 2027, where the awards are announced. See How it works for the full timeline.

Fair for every school

Projects in Kiswahili and projects made with few resources are judged equally with any other.
Judges do not see which school or island a project comes from.
Every team must include at least one girl.
The organisers track how students from Pemba, public schools and girl-majority teams progress at each stage, so the challenge stays fair for everyone.

The organisers

Asili Zanzibar Tekno Hub — [Description to be provided by Asili Zanzibar Tekno Hub.]

TUSOME Technologies Limited is a Tanzanian education, EdTech and research company based in Dar es Salaam. Founded in 2019 as a social enterprise, TUSOME works on AI-enabled learning and assessment, STEAM and AI literacy, teacher professional development and research. Its tagline is Powering African Minds Through Practical EdTech.

Questions? See the FAQ or contact us.