AI4STEAM — Gabtrotter Launches Gabon's First National AI and Robotics Hackathon for Students

Gabon has been pushing to build local AI and STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics) talent, but until late 2025 the country had no dedicated national competition for young people to apply artificial intelligence and robotics to real problems. The Libreville-based NGO Gabtrotter closed that gap by launching AI4STEAM, described as Gabon's first national hackathon dedicated to AI and robotics.

The competition was launched on 6 December 2025 at the American Corner in Libreville, with backing from the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, the U.S. Embassy in Gabon, and International IDEA (the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance). More than 35 teams, split into three categories -- secondary-school pupils, university students, and young graduates -- competed over three days (12-14 December 2025) to design AI- or robotics-based prototypes addressing randomly assigned real-world challenges, with a final public showcase on 20 December at the Glass cultural space in Libreville.

Gabtrotter coordinator Pascal Ango said the format asked 'students to compete over three days to design the best project and prototype solving assigned problems.' International IDEA used the event to showcase CER Gabon, a digital platform providing public electoral resources, as an example of applying AI and robotics to civic-service delivery.

As a first edition, AI4STEAM ran in a single city (Libreville) and reporting available does not include any measurement of participants' skills gains, gender breakdown, or post-event outcomes for the prototypes built -- the evidence is descriptive, reach- and event-based rather than an evaluated learning intervention.