May 19Sam Masikini: The young AI entrepreneur growing the data science community in MalawiWhen we gave Sam Masikini a Zindi shirt at the Deep Learning Indaba 2019 in Nairobi, Kenya, he was so excited he did a backflip right there in the conference hall in front of the Zindi booth, where he met Celina Lee, the co-founder and CEO of Zindi, and Amy…Zindi5 min read
Apr 28“ML competitions aren’t the real world but are pretty close”: meet MG Ferreira, mathematician, entrepreneur, and Zindian“I learned about Zindi at an online NVIDIA conference I attended during the pandemic. I joined the platform and started competing immediately. It gave me an opportunity to become involved in discussions and on the message boards, and the opportunity to compete on teams.” — Michiel George Ferreira (or MG) is a mathematician from South Africa. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics and an MSc in Mathematics from the University of Pretoria. His love for mathematics and desire to stay relevant with the latest development in the labour market at the time led him…Zindi3 min read
Mar 31UmojaHack Africa 2022 brought together Africa’s best young talent in data science to learn, build and grow2022 is the year UmojaHack Africa grew up. From a chaotic start in 2020 amidst a new global pandemic, UmojaHack Africa has grown and developed into the leading hackathon in the African data science space. With $10 000 in prizes for winners across 30 countries, and 1200 students from more than 300 universities participating over the weekend, Zindi…Umojahack Africa5 min read
Mar 32021 winner Tony Mipawa shares why you should join Zindi for UmojaHack Africa 2022, Africa’s largest inter-university machine learning hackathonUmojaHack Africa is Africa’s largest inter-university machine learning hackathon, taking place this year 19–20 March 2022 at universities all over the continent. Students of all levels are invited to take part in a weekend of learning and fun, connect with each other and with career opportunities in data science…Zindi5 min read
Feb 10Providing AI-powered mental health support services to students in KenyaA collaboration between Zindi, Mtoto News, Basic Needs Basic Rights Kenya, and Qhala has created a chatbot powered by machine learning that serves as a mental health companion for young people in Kenya, specifically university students. This is the first time that machine learning and data science are being used…Mental Health4 min read
Dec 14, 2021Rose Wambui: From Zindi Competition Winner to Full-Time Data Scientist at Zindi“While working as a software engineer at Andela, I would occasionally hop in and participate in Zindi competitions — I think that was from 2018. I was only a user for a while. Then after I left Andela, I ventured into contracting because I was focusing on starting my business…Zindi4 min read
Nov 11, 2021From the ground up: the untapped power of community for African data scienceData science communities are bootstrapping a new revolution in Africa. For Paul Kennedy, reflecting on two years of community-building at Zindi, it’s a joy and a privilege to be a small part of the movement. When I joined Zindi as Community Manager in December 2019, I had very little idea…Data Science4 min read
Sep 16, 2021Balogun Hammed Opeyemi, first place winner in the Uber Nairobi Ambulance Perambulation Challenge, shares his winning approachWe’d like to introduce Balogun Hammed Opeyemi, winner of the Uber Nairobi Ambulance Perambulation Challenge. Read on to see how he came out on top and learn from his approach. Please introduce yourself to the Zindi community. I am Balogun Hammed Opeyemi (Balogun) from Lagos, Nigeria. I have a Bachelor’s…Data Science2 min read
Aug 18, 2021Career Advice for a Data Scientist: CVs, everyone has an opinion!Part 2: In the previous blog, we discussed why you should focus on your CV rather than a cover letter, here we discuss CVs. In our opinion, your CV is a direct reflection of you, your background, your personal, academic and commercial achievements and what you can bring to any…Zindi4 min read
Aug 5, 2021Career Advice for data scientists: Are cover letters still relevant?In this first installment of a two-part blog series on getting a data science job, we discuss cover letters. Do you really have to write one? Are they still relevant? We will also introduce some alternatives to cover letters. Do you need a cover letter? There is a mixed opinion about cover letters and the value…Data Science3 min read