2025 marked a transformative year for Texpo as we expanded our focus from STEM to STEAM, placing the creative economy at the center of the challenges. Through three major programs spanning April to September, we brought together young technology enthusiasts from across Zimbabwe to tackle real-world problems in music, film, and cultural preservation.
What made this year particularly special was witnessing the depth of talent and maturity our participants demonstrated. From 14-year-olds presenting sophisticated motion capture solutions to tertiary students developing royalty tracking systems for musicians, the quality of work was excellent.
The platform has created a space for students to engage directly with industry leadership. The panel discussions and keynotes add serious value to the Texpo Programming and the team is truly grateful for the open and accommodating spirit of the panelists, speakers and mentors.
The Cape Town Tech Immersion Tour showed us what's possible when we expose our youth to world-class facilities, professionals and other cultures. Industry leaders were consistently impressed by what our participants had built, their technical knowledge and readiness to join professional teams.
As we look ahead, we're committed to scaling these programs and increasing the pathways for young Zimbabweans to turn their curiosity and aptitude in technology and creativity into sustainable careers.
Impact Metrics
240+
Total Participants
25
Teams Competed
17
Institutions Involved
Texpo25
April 21-25, 2025 | Zimbabwe Academy of Music, Bulawayo
TEXPO 25 theme was "What IF… Ideate. Create. Elevate." The event brought together 32 participants for the Hackathon aged 14-21 from four provinces across Zimbabwe, with teams representing Harare, Bulawayo, Marondera and Manicaland (including participants from as far as Chipinge). Eleven teams submitted proposals for the hackathon, with eight teams qualifying based on innovation, feasibility, technical execution, potential impact, and presentation quality.
Texpo 25 Winning teams - Caffiene.exe and Kinetic Canvas
Hackathon Participants
32Qualified Teams
8Provinces Represented
4Registered Gamers
45
Challenges
The teams developed solutions across four challenge areas:
MoCap4All (affordable motion capture for African filmmakers)
TuneTrack (royalty tracking for musicians)
CrowdBeats (DJ crowd energy and song selection tool)
Echoes of Africa (traditional instrument performance recording and notation).
Professional Engagement
Keynote presentations by Chipo Kanyumbu of the British Council and Tariro Chaniwa from Magitare Trust addressed "The Future of Work" and "Turning Passion into Profit," providing industry context for participants. The event featured panel discussions with industry practitioners, exhibitions from partners including Google Developer Groups, Magitate Trust and Girls in STEM, theatrical performances, film screenings in partnership with the Italian Embassy, literary readings, and a FIFA gaming tournament with 45 participants. Six TEXPO alumni from Harare, Bulawayo, and Mutare volunteered as mentors.
Winners
Kinetic Canvas and Caffiene.exe jointly won first place, with Tech Titans and Ctrl-Alt-Win as first and second runners-up respectively.
Cape Town Technology Immersion Tour 2025
The Cape Town Technology Immersion Tour is the main prize for the winners of Texpo. This year it took place from 10 to 16 August 2025. The 2 winning teams of Texpo 25, Kinetic canvas and Caffiene.exe along with winner from Texpo Steam on 2024 who accompanied the teams as one of the chaperones traveled to Cape Town to visit industry, education institutions and experience the culture.
Filmscape Studios
The visit included exposure to the largest LED stage in Africa and the sets of Masterchef, Deal or No Deal, South African Dramas and the technology behind the shows.
Lucan Studio
Introduction to the entire animation pipeline, the roles within the industry, a studio tour and a look under the hood at the onsite servers.
Sea Monster Studios
How games are used in marketing and social impact projects. The participants presented their winning solutions to the team at Sea Monster and an indepth conversation about the potential of the solutions ensued.
UVU Africa
How Education, social impact and industry intertwine in a truly remarkable programme.
University of Cape Town
The tour of UCT included a history lesson about the university, the culture, facilities and opportunities for study.
Baxter Theatre
FEEDBACK is an extraordinary murder mystery that, transforms into a humorous, poignant, lyrical, and eccentric work of Physical Theatre.
Muizenberg Beach
A wonderful train ride and day at the beach followed by lunch at a classic fish and chips place with some opting for the cultural phenomenon of a "Gatsby".
Museum of Illusions
Such an interesting adventure into the world of illusion and games. The team set themselves on a difficult puzzle and learned the value of working together towards a common objective.
V&A Waterfront
Shopping Malls, Lunch, A boat ride at sunset, Live performances and general fun and joy.
Flight
The first passport, first flight, first time out of the country for most of the winners of Texpo 25. Anxiety, excitement and curiosity.
Lunch at the Waterfront
A great end to a wonderful week with Lunch at a fancy restaurant.
Rush
Greater heights. Fun and exercise at Rush Extreme SA. A sea of trampolines and obstacle courses.
Texpo SteamOn 25
September 22-26, 2025 | Harare Institute of Technology Innovation Hub
Texpo STEAMON focus is on Tertiary Level Students, with a theme centered on solving challenges in the Creative Economy. It was held from 22 to 26 September 2025.
Texpo SteamOn 25 is a collaboration between Technopreneurship Development Centre (TDC) and Telco and was hosted at Harare Institute of Technology Innovation Hub
Students from tertiary institutions across Zimbabwe will develop industry-relevant solutions while benefiting from expert mentorship, collaboration, and national exposure.
The Adjudicators for Texpo SteamOn 2025- Hope Masike, Prudence Katomeni Mbofana, Liam Hughes, Eng Wellington Manjoro and Ms Mtetwa
Registered Participants
156Education Institutions
14Countries
3Teams Selected
6
Texpo Steam On 2025 Presentations at Harare Institute of Technology
Texpo STEAM On had entries from tertiary students from Zimbabwe, Namibia, and Zambia, focusing on the TuneTrack and Echoes of Africa challenges. Top Pre Registration institutions included:
- National University of Science and Technology - 40 participants
- University of Zimbabwe - 22 participants
- Uncommon.org - 16 participants
- Midlands State University - 8 participants
- Africa University - 7 participants
6 teams were selected to compete at the Harare Institute of Technology with the following result
First Place - Able with PlayFair Challenge
1st Runner Up - Tinago com labs with PlayFair Challenge
2nd Runner up - Tripple threat with PlayFair Challenge
Partnership with Harare Institute of Technology
Texpo SteamOn 25 has given birth to the first of the Texpo Clubs, a partnership with the Technopreneurship Development Centre (TDC) at Harare Institute of Technology (HIT). Texpo Clubs will provide an opportunity for students at HIT to be exposed to and explore new technology and engage with industry for a smoother transition from school to work for both the students and industry players involved with the clubs.
Highlight Stories Beyond TEXPO
- Troy Hughes - Participated in Texpo 25, was part of one of the winning teams that went on the Cape Town Immersion tour and subsequently joined team Telco as an intern in the technical department with the devs.
- Andile Ncube and Phillip Madadangoma - Participated in the Zimbabwe World Robotics Olympiad and made it to be the Zimbabwe representatives to the World Robotics Olympiad in Singapore in 2025
- Texpo 25 Team - Denise Antonio who is a Texpo Alumni from 2024 was volunteering at Texpo 25 in April where she met , Mufaro Darlington Kaseke, Tatenda Alicia Murwira, Tadiwanashe Chibonda, and Alexander Takudzwa Magadza. The five of them teamed up to enter and win the first place at the 2025 POTRAZ Ideathon.
Alumni Engagement
This year, ten (10) Texpo Alumni who participated in 2023, 2024 and 2025 from all around Zimbabwe volunteered at Texpo and Texpo SteamOn providing invaluable technical support and mentorship to participants. Their knowledge of the tools and equipment helped coordinate activities and bring participants up to speed quickly.
Partners
