GSMA recognizes innovation driving digital transformation in Africa
June 18, 2026, London: The GSMA has announced the winners of the inaugural Global Mobile (GLOMO) Awards Africa along with the champions of the Open Gateway Africa Ignite Hackathon, highlighting established and emerging innovation driving digital transformation across Africa.
In both initiatives, the winners show the breadth of innovation in the region, from the solutions implemented that generate impact today to the next generation of developers who will shape the future.
GLOMO Africa
Established as part of the GSMA's flagship MWC series in Barcelona, the GLOMOs are the connectivity industry's most prestigious award. Its launch in Africa brings this global benchmark to the region for the first time, recognizing organizations making real impact across the continent.
The inaugural GLOMO Africa winners were selected by an independent panel of industry experts through a rigorous and transparent evaluation process, ensuring global credibility and alignment with the established GLOMO standard.
- Digital Innovation Award for Africa's Real Economy
CheckMe Ltd
- Closing the Mobile Internet Gap in Africa: Innovation Award
Irembo – Byikorere: Turning digital access into digital trust
These awards recognize innovations transforming Africa's real economy in sectors such as agriculture, energy, health, logistics and financial services, along with initiatives that expand mobile internet access and enable more people to fully participate in the digital economy.
Open Gateway Africa Ignite Hackathon
In parallel, the Africa Ignite Hackathon has highlighted the strength of the region's developer ecosystem, bringing together participants from across Africa to create API-driven solutions that address real-world challenges.
Participants developed applications leveraging programmable networking capabilities available through GSMA Open Gateway APIs (using CAMARA APIs and the Nokia Network-as-Code platform) to unlock new opportunities in areas such as financial inclusion, healthcare, agriculture and urban services.
- 1st prize – TrustScore (Portable Trust Agent for Africa's Invisible Credit Economy) – Ramadhan Aheebwa
- 2nd prize – SafeRide (a network-driven trust layer for ridesharing) – Jules Ndanga
- 3rd prize – GridGuard (AI-powered transformer theft prevention through telecom network intelligence) – Batte Akhsam
With nearly 200 unique ideas submitted by innovators from 14 African countries, the winning teams demonstrated how network intelligence and advanced connectivity can be leveraged to create scalable and affordable solutions for local use cases. The Hackathon reinforces the growing importance of open networking frameworks such as GSMA Open Gateway and CAMARA API. By allowing developers to interact directly with network intelligence, without requiring deep telecommunications expertise, these frameworks are accelerating innovation across the region.
Lara Dewar, Marketing Director at GSMA, said: “From industry-leading solutions recognized through GLOMOs Africa to emerging talent showcased at the Open Gateway Africa Ignite Hackathon, this year's winners highlight the depth and diversity of innovation across the continent. Together, they demonstrate how mobile and advanced connectivity are enabling inclusive growth and shaping Africa's digital future.”
The introduction of GLOMOs Africa, alongside initiatives such as the Africa Ignite Hackathon, reflects the GSMA's ongoing commitment to supporting innovation, ecosystem growth and digital inclusion across Africa.
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About the GSMA
The GSMA is a global organization that unifies the mobile ecosystem to discover, develop and deliver critical innovation for positive business environments and social change. Our vision is to unlock the full power of connectivity so that people, industry and society thrive. Representing mobile operators and organizations across the mobile ecosystem and adjacent industries, the GSMA offers its members three broad pillars: connectivity for good, industry services and solutions, and outreach. This activity includes advancing policy, addressing today's biggest societal challenges, supporting the technology and interoperability that make mobile devices work, and providing the world's largest platform to convene the mobile ecosystem at the MWC and M360 series of events.
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