Hub Map GH: Mapping Ghana's Tech Future with AI & Community

This is a submission for the DEV Weekend Challenge: Community

The Community

Ghana's tech ecosystem is vibrant and growing, but information about its hubs—co-working spaces, incubators, accelerators—is often fragmented across social media and outdated websites. Hub Map GH was built for the builders, entrepreneurs, and innovators in Ghana. It provides a central, real-time source of truth to help anyone find the physical space and community they need to launch their next big idea.

What I Built

I built a high-performance, real-time directory and map of the Ghanaian tech ecosystem.

Key Features:

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  🤖 Gemini-Powered AI Matching: Don't just browse—ask! Users can type natural language queries like "I'm a hardware founder in Kumasi looking for mentorship" and get ranked, relevant recommendations via Gemini Pro.


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  🤝 Community-Driven Growth: Anyone can suggest a new tech hub via a simple, geolocated form. These submissions enter a pending state until verified by an admin, ensuring the directory stays high-quality and collaborative.


• 
  🗺️ Searchable Ecosystem Map: Enhanced filters with real-time search and multi-select tags, making it effortless to navigate through dozens of hubs.


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  🔒 Secure Admin Console: A protected dashboard for ecosystem leads to verify community submissions, manage cities/tags, and execute batch-updates across the entire directory.


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  ⚡ Proactive Sync & Caching: Multi-layer caching with cross-instance synchronization via Firestore ensures that any administrative change (like deleting or verifying a hub) is instantly reflected site-wide.


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  📱 Mobile & Native Share: Built for a mobile-first nation, including full responsiveness and Native Web Share API integration.

Demo

Code

You can find the github repository here

How I Built It

The project leverages a modern, serverless stack designed for scale and zero cost:

• Framework: Next.js 14 (App Router) for a lightning-fast frontend.




• AI: Google Gemini Pro provides the natural language reasoning for the recommender, optimized for the ecosystem.




• Database: Firebase Firestore handles real-time data sync, community submissions, and cross-server cache invalidation.




• Auth: Firebase Auth secures the administrative backbone.




• Styling: Tailwind CSS with a custom design system inspired by Ghana's national colors (Gold, Red, Green).




• Icons/OG: Refined, minimalist branding assets generated to provide a premium look and feel.

Sustainability & Safety

I implemented IP-based usage tracking in Firestore to enforce a "3 matches per day" limit for AI requests, ensuring the platform remains free to the community while protecting against API abuse.