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Africa University students came up first in the Zindi UmojaHack Zimbabwe Inter-University Artificial Intelligence Hackathon held two weeks ago.

The Hackathon held online on October 17, 2020 presented participants with real-world problems that they needed to solve through real-world machine learning.

Some of the problems included gender discrimination, conservation efforts among vulnerable wildlife populations, mobility and urban transportation networks, financial inclusion and agriculture.

The team made up of Tinaye Makoni, Tapiwa Chamboko, Tinashe Maswaure and Gilbert Ncube coded their way to victory beating out 10 competing teams and in the process walked away with the prestigious title and a cash prize.

The team was under the mentorship of Dr Yogesh Kumar Awasthi and Ms Lovely Tembani, Faculty of Computer Information Systems in the university’s College of Business, Peace, Leadership and Governance.

The problem posed to the team was presented by local insurance and financial management firm, Zimnat, in collaboration with Data Science Zimbabwe, and U.Lab.

Participants were tasked with developing a loan prediction model that analyses trends in data to determine which loans are likely to result in bad debts and which are more likely to bring sustained repayments over time.

A sample dataset of over 12 000 loans was provided for the modelling and trial process.

Team Manager and lead in the Africa University i5Hub Ms Yolanda Washaya said of the win: “This victory has put us on the map as a university that has capable students on a continental level in developing programmes that can solve the problems confronting big industries.

“We have proven ourselves to be ready for the Education 5.0 revolution and drivers of this transition in higher education as we empower our future leaders to take the bold steps necessary to succeed in STEM fields.

“What our students have accomplished serves as motivation for other students to compete in future hackathons and competitions.”

Zindi is the largest African data science competition platform with the mission of building the data science ecosystem in Africa.

Zindi hosts a community of over 18 000 data scientists across Africa dedicated to solving the world’s most pressing challenges through machine learning and Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Through Zindi, data scientists hone their skills, build their professional profiles, connect with job opportunities, and share ideas with their peers across Africa and beyond.

Private companies, start-ups, governments, and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) work with Zindi to source the best data science and AI solutions, as well as proven talent for their specific needs.