Dates 

December 19 to 20, 2025, noon. 

Eligibility

All staff members at Kifiya.

Project and Submission Requirements

AI-native solution for Intelligent Financial Infrastructure. 

Teams are allowed to develop a valuable solution in the IFI ecosystem that leverages AI capabilities. 

Team Composition 

Each squad mimics a product development team: 

  • Technical Product Owner (TPO): Defines the product vision, user needs, and success metrics for the selected theme. 

  • Project Manager (PM): Manages timelines, resources, and team coordination. 

  • Developers/Engineers: Build the prototype, integrating AI and ensuring functionality. 

  • Optional Roles: Data Scientist, AI Engineer, or Designer to enhance AI depth, data handling, or user experience.

Prizes

100, 000 ETB

Judging Criteria and Winner Selection

Judging Criteria and Metrics 

The following metrics will be used to evaluate the MVP submissions. Each project will be scored across three major dimensions: Core Functionality, AI & Technical Quality, and Impact & Innovation. 

 

1. Core Functionality Metrics (40%) 

  • Feature Completeness: Percentage of MVP core features implemented (target ≥ 80%). 

  • Detection Accuracy (Precision/Recall/F1): AI model correctly flags fraudulent vs. legitimate transactions (target F1 ≥ 0.7). 

  • Response Time (API Latency): Average response time to return a fraud score (target ≤ 2 seconds). 

  • System Stability: Number of failed calls or crashes during testing (target ≥ 95% success rate). 

  • Error Handling & Logging: Graceful error responses and visible logging implemented. 

 

2. AI & Technical Quality Metrics (30%) 

  • Model Explainability: Ability of the AI model to explain why a transaction was flagged. 

  • Model Efficiency: Performance of the model in terms of computation and runtime. 

  • Data Pipeline Design: Clean, modular, and scalable data flow from input to output. 

  • Integration Readiness: Ease of integrating the MVP into IFI systems (API-ready, documented). 

  • Security & Privacy: Proper handling and anonymization of sensitive financial data. 

 

3. Impact, Usability & Innovation Metrics (30%) 

  • User Value Proposition: Demonstrates measurable improvement in fraud detection or financial trust. 

  • Innovation Beyond MVP: Unique AI features or enhancements added beyond the core specification. 

  • Usability & UX: Intuitive design and clarity of the interface or dashboard. 

  • Scalability: Potential to scale across different products or market segments. 

  • Presentation Quality: Clarity, confidence, and storytelling in the final demo. 

 

4. MVP Readiness Index (Internal Evaluation) 

Used by Kifiya’s internal review team to identify projects suitable for further development. Scored across three factors: 

  • Deployment Readiness (40%) 

  • Business Alignment (30%) 

  • Technical Robustness (30%) 

Projects scoring ≥ 70% are considered for incubation or integration pilots. 

 

5. Deliverables 

Teams must submit: 

  • A functional MVP hosted locally or in a sandbox environment. 

  • A GitHub repository or code package. 

  • A short and brief presentation, max 10 minutes. 

  • A documentation file outlining setup and architecture.

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