Bulawayo, Zimbabwe — August 2026
In a landmark achievement for the National University of Science and Technology (NUST), an interdisciplinary team of students has been crowned Design Champions at the prestigious 2026 AI for Impact Challenge (AI4I), hosted by the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ).
The AI4I Challenge is a flagship national innovation programme designed to translate Zimbabwe’s National Artificial Intelligence Strategy into practical, high-impact solutions with measurable public value. This annual initiative aims to embed a permanent culture of homegrown AI innovation across the country.
This year’s competition drew an overwhelming 738 applications, narrowed down to 710 unique entries, before only 60 top innovators were selected for a rigorous six-day residential bootcamp in Mutare. Participants competed across four tracks — Data, Design, Development, and Deployment. After days of intensive entrepreneurial training and technical clinics, just 16 finalists emerged victorious.
NUST’s winning team secured a $12,000 prize package, split strategically to ensure scalability of their innovation:
Econet Wireless awarded $7,000 in AI compute capacity and tokens to power backend processing.
His Excellency the President of Zimbabwe, Dr E.D. Mnangagwa, contributed $5,000 in milestone-based implementation support for the physical rollout of the solution.
Competing in the Design Track, the NUST team developed Indimi, an AI-powered decision-making tool tailored for local government and public systems. Indimi addresses inequality and language gaps in digital public services.
It transforms raw data into actionable insights, exposing structural language barriers and enabling equitable resource allocation. The platform also champions digital accessibility, strictly adhering to WCAG 2.1 AA standards, ensuring high contrast, screen-reader support, and inclusive design for persons with disabilities.
The winning team includes: Chris Nyamajiva — Team Lead, Class of 2024, Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering. Wellington Gombarume: System Engineer, Part V, Electronics Engineering. Paidamoyo Dzivakwi: Assistant Engineer, Part 1:2, Computer Science.
Following their triumph, the project will be incubated through the POTRAZ Innovation Drive at the National Innovation Acceleration Centre (NIAC). The team will refine local language datasets and deploy Indimi into real-world government systems, cementing NUST’s role in advancing Zimbabwe’s digital sovereignty and inclusive growth and underscoring its strength in interdisciplinary collaboration.
This victory not only highlights the brilliance of NUST students but also signals Zimbabwe’s growing leadership in AI-driven innovation.
Congratulations to Chris, Wellington, and Paidamoyo for flying the NUST flag high on the national stage!