More than 80 winners of national rounds from 15 countries around the world presented projects for the development of future “atomic cities” at the final – Africa held its own among both the winners and the jury.
From September 14 to 15, Ekaterinburg, Russia, hosted the final of the international student championship Global HackAtom. The event was held as part of the International Festival of Youth 2026 with the support of the state corporation Rosatom.
Grand-Final-of-the-Second-International-Student-Championship-Global-HackAtom.
It brought together more than 80 winners of national rounds from 15 countries, including South Africa, Namibia and Egypt. Finalists envisioned what future “atomic cities” might look like.
“The international Global HackAtom championship is a unique platform for young talent. With national rounds now spanning 15 countries and growing every year, it is becoming a truly global event, bringing together thousands of students from across the world – from Southeast Asia to Latin America. Hackathons give young people a unique chance to put their knowledge, skills and creativity to work on real problems facing major corporations and governments worldwide today.
Participants develop solutions in areas like sustainable development, digital transformation, energy efficiency and the integration of high-tech solutions into everyday life. I am confident the ideas these talented young people are coming up with are already laying the groundwork for the future – it is their fresh perspective and bold thinking that will shape the world of tomorrow,” noted Rosatom Director General International Network Egor Kvyatkovskiy.
Yohannes Bimrew Simegn from Ethiopia, a member of Impact Team
Over 20 hours, student teams built out their projects and prepared to present them. The championship jury, which included Yohannes Bimrew Simegn from Ethiopia, a member of Impact Team 2050 – an international youth advisory council under the Rosatom Director General Alexey Likhachev – praised the level of preparation the students brought to their projects.
NamHack Innovators from Namibia
The final’s runner-up was Team University of Zululand from South Africa, which beat out most of the other participating countries with a concept for a comprehensive “atomic city” of the future to be built in southeastern Africa by 2050. The continent also picked up recognition in a special category: at the official awards ceremony, Namibia won a unique prize from the Obninsk Tech project – an invitation to attend the Obninsk Tech Summer School in 2027.
African teams’ success at the final, together with an Ethiopian representative’s seat on the jury, points to a bigger trend: nuclear energy is emerging as a strategic priority for African countries looking to address energy shortages and lay the groundwork for long-term economic growth. Interest in peaceful nuclear technology, workforce training and building homegrown scientific and technological capacity is growing across the continent. Countries are at different stages of that journey – some are just signing their first cooperation agreements, others are already mining uranium, and still others are building their own nuclear power plants.
Workforce development is getting particular attention. Students from a wide range of countries around the world study nuclear science at Rosatom’s partner universities, with a significant share coming from African nations. Many of them go on to work in their home countries’ nuclear industries after graduating. Several initiatives support young people across the continent.
These include the Atoms Empowering Africa Video Contest, which has engaged young professionals in discussions on the peaceful use of nuclear technology since 2017, and the Icebreaker of Knowledge educational expedition to the North Pole. Dedicated training programmes are also underway – Rwanda, for instance, is training its own nuclear engineers, while Tanzania and Namibia are training geologists for the uranium industry. Young professionals joining forces around projects like these are becoming part of a growing international community in which Africa is playing an increasingly prominent role – giving its people a real stake in developing next-generation nuclear energy and its peaceful applications on the continent.
Reference:
Global HackAtom is an international student championship where participants tackle real-world nuclear industry challenges within a 24-hour window. Now in its second edition, it runs in two stages: national selection rounds followed by a grand final in Russia. This year’s national rounds spanned 15 countries across Asia, Latin America, Europe and Africa.
The championship is run by the state corporation Rosatom as part of Obninsk Tech, an international research and education centre, with the aim of building awareness of nuclear technology among young people. Obninsk Tech is an international hub for nuclear and related education, home to modern educational technology development, an exhibition space for export-oriented Russian high-tech products, and a venue for congresses, exhibitions and international schools.
Obninsk Tech Summer School is an international summer educational programme for foreign students, run as part of the Obninsk Tech project at the Obninsk Institute for Nuclear Power Engineering of the National Research Nuclear University MEPhI.
