Nigeria Hackathon Offers Developers Career Path and $6,500

A new hackathon in Nigeria is turning the typical coding competition on its head by offering something better than prize money: actual careers.

DevCareer and fintech company Nomba just opened registration for a five-week program running June 8 to July 18, 2026. The twist? Every developer who builds a working payment product and meets the judging standards becomes eligible for the Nomba Developer Partner Program, where they can earn money from transaction volume they generate.

The hackathon welcomes teams of two to four, including engineers, designers, and product managers. Solo developers can register and find teammates through the platform. Total prize money reaches $6,500, with the winning team taking home $4,000.

Participants choose between two challenge tracks. Build Track teams create real products using Nomba's existing payment tools like checkout systems and virtual accounts. Infrastructure Track teams tackle bigger problems by building missing pieces like subscription engines or identity verification flows.

Here's where it gets exciting for Infrastructure Track winners. They'll meet directly with Nomba's Chief Technology Officer to discuss whether their creation should become part of the actual Nomba platform. Their hackathon project could become real infrastructure serving Nigerian businesses.

All participants get free access to the Nomba Forward Deployed Engineer Training during onboarding week. The program covers payment security and API integration with a focus on Nigerian market needs. Completing the training and shipping a working product unlocks access to the partner program.

"Nigerian developers are building the next generation of payment infrastructure, and we want them building on Nomba," says Jafer Ali Shariff, Head of Product at Nomba. "The best submissions won't just win a prize; they'll shape what we build next."

DevCareer brings over 42,000 members across Africa to the partnership. Community and Partnership Lead Favour Chibueze emphasizes that building real payment products requires teamwork between engineers, designers, and product thinkers, exactly what DevCareer has been developing.

The Ripple Effect

This model could change how tech talent pipelines work across Africa. Instead of one-off competitions that end with a check and a photo, developers gain ongoing commercial relationships and the chance to earn based on real market adoption. The hackathon becomes a doorway rather than a destination.

For Nigerian developers solving local payment challenges, this represents a clear path from building skills to building businesses.

Applications close June 23, 2026 at devcareer.io, with Demo Day scheduled for July 18.

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