CANEX Create-Thon 2026 Guidelines

To qualify for Create-Thon 2026, participants and projects must meet the following requirements:

• Age and residency

  Open to creators aged 18 or older who are citizens or legal residents of an African country.

• Individual entries only

  Team submissions are not allowed. Each participant may submit only one project in one competition category.

• Created with Dala Studio

  All projects must be created and developed using Dala Studio. Projects produced using other AI platforms will be disqualified.

• Created during the competition

  Projects must be started and completed during the official build period, 4–7 September 2026. Pre-existing projects, imported portfolios or projects with creation timestamps before 4 September 2026 will not be accepted.

• Submission period

  The deadline for submitting final projects is 8 September 2026. Submissions or project modifications made after the deadline will be disqualified.

• African storytelling

  Creators have full creative freedom, but submissions are encouraged to reflect African cultures, identities, languages, contemporary realities, folklore, aesthetics or soundscapes. Cultural relevance and African storytelling account for 20% of the final judging score.

• Commercial potential

  Submissions should feel complete, polished and ready for a real audience, such as a release-ready track, distributable video concept or market-ready game preview.

• Intellectual property

  Projects must be original and must not contain unauthorized copyrighted music, footage, characters, logos or other third-party materials.

• Safe content

  Hate speech, sexually explicit content, defamatory material and gratuitous violence are prohibited.

Create-Thon is open to creators across Africa. Participants may enter under one of three categories:

• Music
• Video
• Digital Games

Register for Create-Thon, join our WhatsApp Channel for engagement, create an original project using Dala Studio, and submit it through the official competition page during the submission period.

Projects must be original, complete, accessible and compliant with copyright and intellectual-property laws. Plagiarized, harmful, illegal or incomplete submissions may be disqualified.

Each finalist will be independently scored by a panel of experts assigned to their category. Judges will score every criterion from 1 to 10, producing a final weighted score out of 100.

• Creativity and Originality25%
• Technical Execution and Craft25%
• Cultural Relevance and African Storytelling20%
• Creative Use of Dala Studio15%
• Real-World or Commercial Potential15%

Creators will compete for a share of the US$50,000 prize pool.

Awards include:

• Music — 1st $7,000 · 2nd $3,500 · 3rd $1,500
• Video — 1st $7,000 · 2nd $3,500 · 3rd $1,500
• Digital Games — 1st $7,000 · 2nd $3,500 · 3rd $1,500
• Top Creator from each of the top 20 countries — $500 each

A creator may qualify for more than one award, and eligible prizes may be combined.

The 3 top category winners earn an exclusive trip to the CANEX WKND Festival in Lagos, Nigeria to showcase their work and connect with leaders across Africa's creative industries.

• Registration period20 July – 3 September 2026
• Creation start date4 September 2026
• Submission deadline8 September 2026
• Winners announced19 October 2026