The African Olympiad in Artificial Intelligence (AOAI) is the official African regional olympiad of the International Olympiad in Artificial Intelligence (IOAI). Founded in 2025 and first held in April 2026 in Sousse, Tunisia, AOAI is the first continental AI olympiad in African history. It brings together the most talented high school students from across Africa to compete in individual and practical AI rounds, as a complementary qualifying/preparatory platform for the global IOAI competition; participation is not automatic entry to IOAI.
Mission: To identify, nurture, and celebrate Africa's next generation of AI talent through fair, rigorous olympiad competitions, and to strengthen national AI education ecosystems across the continent.
Competition format (first edition):
- Individual Rounds: Two separate rounds testing AI knowledge and problem-solving (morning and afternoon sessions)
- Practical Round: Robot Coding — hands-on applied AI challenge
- Workshops: Skill-building sessions for participants
- Cultural programme: Opening ceremony, historical visit, culture night
- Both on-site (in-person) and online tracks
How participation works: The published AOAI regulations require accredited national representation. Contestants are selected through inclusive country-wide competitions in AI, informatics, mathematics, linguistics or a related field, not necessarily an AI-only contest. Teams normally include up to four contestants and one leader. The website links IOAI accreditation, while the AOAI regulations describe approval by its own Board. The homepage’s 30-member headline is separate from the news page’s report that 28 African countries actually competed at IOAI 2026, following an earlier announcement that 30 would head there.
Governance: AOAI is supervised by a Board and Scientific Committee of AI researchers, educators, and thought leaders from across Africa. The organization operates under the aegis of the IOAI and is aligned with the IOAI GAITE initiative, which supports countries with limited olympiad history to participate on equal footing.
Dates and eligibility checked November 4, 2026: The first-edition page confirms April 9–13, 2026 in Sousse: arrival April 9; ceremony/visit April 10; workshops/practical round April 11; individual rounds April 12; workshop, closing and departure April 13. That is historical. No next-edition contestant or attendance calendar was verified. The news page has 2027/2028 host and committee calls, whose deadlines are not student entry deadlines.
The linked regulations, version 1.1 dated August 29, 2026, require contestants to be 20 or younger on July 1 of the edition year and normally enrolled full-time in primary/secondary education on or after December 1 of the preceding year. National selection is open to residents receiving education there. Non-African or otherwise unrepresented guest teams/individuals may be invited by the Board for one edition; they use a separate guest leaderboard and receive participation certificates rather than AOAI medals/ranked awards. Worldwide access does not mean unrestricted individual registration.
The regulations provide onsite and reduced online registration fees, with annual amounts to be published. Onsite fees cover accommodation, full board, local transport and official activities; participants pay international travel, visa and insurance costs. Free initial national accreditation does not establish free contestant entry. Exact next-edition fees and national/team registration cutoffs remain unknown. Online teams must compete together in a supervised national room rather than individually from home.