The SIREXE Hackathon 2026 is the official innovation contest of the International Exhibition on Extractive Resources and Energy (SIREXE 2026), organised by Côte d'Ivoire's Ministry of Mines, Petroleum and Energy. It rewards technology solutions that can be applied to the mining, oil and energy sectors, with a first prize of XOF 10 million. The grand final takes place on 21 November 2026 and the awards ceremony on 22 November, at the Parc des Expositions in Abidjan. Below you will find the full calendar, eligibility conditions, prize structure and a breakdown of the selection process.
What is the SIREXE Hackathon 2026?
The SIREXE Hackathon 2026 is an innovation contest attached to the second edition of the International Exhibition on Extractive Resources and Energy. The principle is straightforward: put innovation at the heart of the extractive sector by having multidisciplinary teams work on real problems from the Ivorian field.
The contest was officially launched on Thursday 9 July 2026 in Abidjan-Plateau, at a press conference presenting the competition. The stated ambition goes beyond a simple contest. According to Arnaud Kouassi, chair of the Hackathon Commission, the competition has an international dimension and brings together candidates asked to design innovative, operational, high-impact technology solutions capable of delivering concrete and immediately usable answers to the challenges facing the mining, oil and energy sectors in Côte d'Ivoire.
A format that has already proven itself
This is not a first edition. The 2024 SIREXE Hackathon drew more than 6,000 participants, and the organising committee has set the bar higher still for this second edition. That volume places the contest among the largest gatherings of innovators in the country.
What sets the 2026 format apart is the emphasis placed on what happens after the contest. The edition introduces two new features designed to secure the viability of the projects: an incubation day to co-develop solutions with experts, followed by post-hackathon support connecting winners directly with investors and the ministry. In other words, the prize is no longer the end of the road but a starting point.
The thinking behind the contest
The exhibition's commissioner general summed up the spirit of the initiative at the launch. For Mireille Aka, natural resources are a form of wealth, but a nation's true wealth lies in the intelligence of its young people and their capacity to innovate. She said she was convinced that the talents revealed by the competition would help write a new chapter in innovation for Côte d'Ivoire and for Africa.
How do you enter the SIREXE Hackathon?
Entry runs exclusively through the official SIREXE platform, accessible from the exhibition's official website. Applications submitted by email or delivered in person are not accepted.
Important status update: the 2026 application window is closed. Submissions ran from 13 July to 31 August 2026. The contest has now moved into its selection phases. If you are discovering the programme now, the right approach is to follow the official channels of the ministry and the exhibition ahead of the next edition, which is held every two years.
What an application file contains
To help you prepare for a future call for applications, these are the items that made up the 2026 file:
- a presentation video of the solution, three to five minutes long
- a PDF document limited to 10 pages
- the team composition and each member's role
- the chosen prize category
- the administrative documents required by the rules
Applicants had to supply a three-to-five-minute video and a PDF of no more than 10 pages. One piece of advice runs through all the organisers' communications: they strongly encourage candidates to protect their intellectual property from the moment they register. For solutions with real commercial potential, that reflex is not optional.
Team format
Candidates competed in teams of three to five people through the dedicated platform. Complementary skill sets are an implicit success factor, which we return to below.
What are the SIREXE Hackathon prizes?
The prize structure is identical for each of the two contest categories. It has been confirmed by the Ministry of Mines, Petroleum and Energy and by the Ivorian Press Agency.
| Rank | Prize money | Additional awards |
|---|---|---|
| 1st prize | XOF 10,000,000 | Certificate, medal, trophy |
| 2nd prize | XOF 5,000,000 | Certificate, medal |
| 3rd prize | XOF 2,500,000 | Certificate, medal |
The winning team receives a certificate, a medal, a trophy and prize money of XOF 10 million. Runners-up receive a certificate, a medal and XOF 5 million, while third-placed teams receive a certificate, a medal and XOF 2.5 million.
How large is the overall prize pool?
The arithmetic is worth setting out clearly, because the figures circulating are inconsistent. Each category distributes XOF 17.5 million (10 + 5 + 2.5). With two categories awarded separately, the total pool can reach XOF 35 million. Some press reports have cited an overall endowment of XOF 17.5 million, which corresponds to a single category.
What does not appear on the cheque
Prize money is only part of the value for winners. Participants benefit from expert mentoring, national visibility and the prospect of seeing their projects actually deployed. For a young start-up, presenting in a final before the jury and the audience of an international exhibition that gathers mining and oil operators, investors and public decision-makers is worth more than a one-off cash award.
The same logic drives companies in the sector to invest in their physical presence at the event. If you are preparing to exhibit, our complete guide to exhibiting at SIREXE 2026 sets out the procedures, the calendar and the trade-offs to anticipate.
When does the SIREXE Hackathon 2026 take place?
The contest runs over five months, from July to November 2026, and culminates during the exhibition. SIREXE 2026 takes place from 18 to 22 November 2026 at the Parc des Expositions in Abidjan.
Full contest calendar
| Phase | Dates | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Official launch | 9 July 2026 | Contest presentation in Abidjan-Plateau |
| Applications | 13 July to 31 August 2026 | Submissions on the official platform |
| Incubation day | 21 August 2026 | Exchanges between candidates and sector experts |
| First selection | 1 to 8 September 2026 | Jury shortlists the top 20 teams |
| Pre-selection | 5 to 16 October 2026 | Six finalists are chosen |
| Intensive bootcamp | 19 and 20 November 2026 | Finalists prepare with expert coaches |
| Grand final | 21 November 2026 | Pitches before the jury and the public |
| Awards ceremony | 22 November 2026 | Official prize-giving |
The first selection round, in which the jury shortlisted the top 20 teams, ran from 1 to 8 September 2026. The pre-selection phase to identify the six finalists is scheduled from 5 to 16 October 2026, and the intensive preparation of those finalists with expert coaches takes place on 19 and 20 November 2026.
The incubation day, a phase of its own
Initially announced for earlier in the month, the incubation day was ultimately held at the end of August. The Ministry of Mines, Petroleum and Energy hosted it on Friday 21 August 2026 at the SCIAM building in Abidjan, to help candidates better grasp the problems the contest addresses.
Its value is methodological. For Arnaud Kouassi, the day was designed to test ideas against field realities and bring out concrete, workable solutions. He explained that the aim was to give candidates a dedicated space to talk with sector experts, on the grounds that proposing a relevant solution first requires a clear understanding of the problem, the realities on the ground, the operational constraints and what users actually expect.
Who can take part in the SIREXE Hackathon?
The contest is deliberately open. Organisers presented it as open to students, start-ups and companies.
The profiles explicitly targeted:
- students in technical, scientific and business programmes
- developers and software engineers
- sector engineers working in mining, oil and energy
- researchers and laboratories
- start-ups and innovative entrepreneurs
- data scientists, designers and communications specialists
Students, engineers, developers, start-ups, researchers and entrepreneurs are invited to design immediately usable solutions that improve the performance, sustainability and competitiveness of Côte d'Ivoire's extractive and energy industries.
Do you need to be Ivorian?
No. The contest is open to Ivorians and non-nationals alike, but gives priority to projects that address the specific needs of the Ivorian market. A foreign candidate can therefore compete, provided the solution is calibrated to local problems.
Building a team that holds up
This is the most practical advice the organisers gave. The technical adviser to the minister encouraged candidates to build or strengthen their teams around complementary skills, arguing that the best innovations often come from collaboration between developers, engineers, sector experts, designers, data specialists, entrepreneurs and communicators.
In practice, a balanced team brings together at least:
- a technical profile able to produce a working prototype
- a sector profile who knows the realities of a mine site or an energy installation
- a business profile able to demonstrate economic viability
- a communications profile to deliver the final pitch before the jury
What is the theme of the SIREXE Hackathon 2026?
The contest is organised around two complementary categories. The hackathon is structured around the "Liberty Prize" and the "Thematic Prize", both intended to encourage innovative solutions addressing the challenges of the mining, oil and energy sectors.
The Liberty Prize
In this category, teams are free to propose a solution connected to at least one of the sectors concerned: mining, oil or energy. It is the open lane for projects that fit no predefined box.
The Thematic Prize
The second category is tightly framed. Candidates must propose solutions that promote energy savings, optimise energy consumption and turn waste into biogas. The theme maps directly onto Ivorian energy policy priorities around energy efficiency and the transition.
The theme of the host exhibition
The hackathon sits within a wider framework. The theme of SIREXE 2026 is: "Extractive and energy industries: what infrastructure to support economic development in Africa?" Held every two years, the exhibition aims to become one of Africa's leading events for the mining, oil and energy sectors, bringing together companies, investors, financial institutions, public decision-makers and technical partners.
This convergence between digital innovation and infrastructure challenges explains why the solutions expected must be operational rather than conceptual.
How does the selection process work?
The selection process narrows in three successive stages: from hundreds of applications down to 20 teams, then to six finalists, then to the winners.
Evaluation criteria
The jury applies a scoring grid out of 100 points. Projects are assessed on the administrative compliance of the file, the technical quality of the proposed solution, its operational feasibility, its technological relevance, its durability and its socio-economic and environmental impact, for a total score of 100 points.
Three practical lessons follow:
- administrative compliance eliminates candidates before any technical review. An incomplete file does not pass the first filter.
- feasibility outweighs the idea. An imperfect but deployable prototype beats a brilliant concept that cannot be applied.
- impact must be documented, with figures, not merely asserted.
Final format
After the elimination rounds, six finalist teams, three for the Liberty Prize and three for the biogas theme, must convince the jury using a slide presentation and a five-minute video, judged on innovation and socio-economic impact.
The six finalists take part in an intensive bootcamp on 19 and 20 November 2026, ahead of the grand final on 21 November, where the six solutions are presented before the jury and the SIREXE audience.
What this means for exhibitors
For companies exhibiting at the show, the hackathon final creates a peak in on-site footfall. Visitors concentrate around the conference areas and activation zones, and traffic through the aisles changes rhythm. That has to be anticipated upstream, when your space is being designed: an open stand, legible from a distance and built to capture dense flow, is not treated the same way as a stand designed for scheduled B2B meetings.
That is exactly the custom stand design and build work we deliver for companies in the extractive sector. Depending on your budget and floor area, our turnkey stand packages or our modular solutions cover everything from an institutional presence to a full activation setup.
Conclusion
The SIREXE Hackathon 2026 confirms its position as the leading innovation contest attached to Côte d'Ivoire's extractive sector.
- Prize money: XOF 10 million, 5 million and 2.5 million per category, up to XOF 35 million in total
- Two categories: the Liberty Prize and the Thematic Prize focused on energy efficiency and biogas
- Key dates: final on 21 November 2026, awards on 22 November, at the Parc des Expositions in Abidjan
- Eligibility: students, developers, researchers and entrepreneurs, nationals and non-nationals alike
- Selection: a 100-point grid where feasibility and impact weigh as heavily as the idea itself
Preparing your presence at SIREXE 2026 from 18 to 22 November? The best locations go early and production slots fill up. Tell us about your stand project and receive a costed proposal within 48 hours through our contact page or on WhatsApp at +225 07 20 26 16 53.
FAQ
Is the SIREXE Hackathon 2026 free to enter?
Yes. Entry is free, with candidates covering only the cost of developing their own solution.
How many people per team?
Candidates compete in teams of three to five people through the dedicated platform.
Where is the SIREXE Hackathon 2026 final held?
The best innovations are showcased at SIREXE 2026, scheduled from 18 to 22 November 2026 at the Parc des Expositions in Abidjan.
What happens after the awards ceremony?
Post-hackathon support is provided to help winners deploy their solutions.
Who organises the contest?
Côte d'Ivoire's Ministry of Mines, Petroleum and Energy, through the Hackathon Commission chaired by Arnaud Kouassi, under the authority of the SIREXE commissioner general.