Africa can't defend what it can't staff.
Ransomware is hitting hospitals and ministries. Account takeovers are hitting banks. Kenya's digital economy is growing faster than the workforce defending it, and the people who could defend it are priced out of training before they start. Talent is there. Fees are the barrier.
Decades of awareness campaigns and certificates have not closed the gap. Across Africa, practical, affordable cybersecurity training is the exception, not the norm. When it exists, it is priced for corporates, not for the student or the career-changer. Communities and employers want a different norm. We offer them a model that works, and we share it so others can run it too.
Why it works.
Labs, capture-the-flag and live simulations. Learners play attacker and defender from the first week, on cloud labs they keep for six months after they graduate.
Meetups, a Discord, HackTheBox Kenya and CTF Room. No prior experience needed to walk in. Titans takes teenagers from thirteen.
660 learners across seven Academy cohorts since January 2025. Financial services is the biggest employer of our graduates.
To build Africa's cybersecurity workforce by opening practical, affordable training to anyone with the drive to learn, and sharing the model so others can do the same.
A continent that can defend itself.
We will only get there with partners beside us.
Our history.
- 2013
AfricaHackon founded in Nairobi. Africa's first cybersecurity collective.
- 2014
First AfricaHackon conference, Kenya's first hacking conference, on 28 February in Nairobi.
- 2025
The Academy opens. First cohort of 50, in January.
- 2026
Titans, the teen bootcamp, launches at Hackhouse Africa. First intake in July.
- 2026
Seven cohorts, 660 learners, 14,000 professionals nurtured across 400 events.
It takes the whole collective.
The team behind AfricaHackon is a group of practising cybersecurity professionals, researchers and enthusiasts. Together they run the conference, teach the Academy, coach the Titans and keep the community open.
Be part of the future.
Student, professional or organisation, there is a place for you at the table. Every donation opens a place for a learner who cannot afford the fees.
Donate