What is The Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation?
The Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation, founded by the UK’s Royal Academy of Engineering in 2014, is Africa’s biggest prize dedicated to developing African innovators and helping them maximize their impact. It gives commercialization support to ambitious African innovators developing scalable engineering solutions to address local challenges, demonstrating the importance of engineering as an enabler of improved quality of life and economic development.
The Africa Prize has been generously supported by the UK Government, including the UK’s Department for Science, Innovation, and Technology’s Official Development Assistance funding, as well as charitable trusts and foundations, individual donors, and corporate partners over the last ten years. The Africa Prize demonstrates how ambitious engineering innovators are protecting the environment and transforming the continent’s economy through scalable solutions. Africa Prize innovators are working to address challenges that are both pan-African and global in scope. These challenges include developing low-carbon energy and transportation solutions, enhancing telecommunications, education, financial services, and healthcare, and adapting food and water systems for climate resilience.
What does the prize offer?
An eight-month period of tailored training and mentoring culminates in a showcase event where a winner is selected to receive £25,000, along with three runners-up, who are each awarded £10,000. One shortlisted innovator will also receive an award of £5,000 as ‘The One to Watch’.
As an EMMIE and a 2022 Africa prize shortlist myself, the Africa Prize has helped me tremendously to not only bring my innovation to market but also assisted me with media visibility which landed me a feature on CCN Inside Africa, Business Insider and many other media outlets. The 8-month-long tailored training and mentorship helped me further develop my business knowledge and skills. As a result, it excites me to write about the 2024 Cohort and to introduce the various entrepreneurial ideas these innovators are working on.
About the 2024 Shortlisted Ideas
Sixteen innovators from eight African countries, including Botswana for the first time, have been shortlisted for the 10th Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation.
Shortlisted innovations for the 2024 Africa Prize include roof tiles made from recycled plastic, early detection of agricultural pests and diseases, environmental monitoring of chicken farms, and a fabric made from fungi grown on human waste.
Also featured are innovations aimed at healthier methods of cooking, including low-smoke briquettes made from biowaste, a solar-induction oven, and hob, and a biodigester that uses organic waste to
generate gas. Clean energy solutions include a large-scale power pack made from repurposed electric vehicle batteries, a solar dryer to enhance small fish farming, and converted electric motorbikes with replaceable batteries.
Other innovations include an automated storage locker, a domestic alert for deaf people, a plug-in device to transform any screen into a computer, and a healthcare platform based on WhatsApp.
Meet the Shortlisted Innovations and Entrepreneurs
Beba-Beggie, Charles Oduk, Kenya – An IoT automated locker technology offering affordable, accessible, secure and convenient short-term storage.
Biomass Briquettes, Ludo Ntshiwa, Botswana – An environmentally-friendly clean fuel that
harnesses the green energy of biowaste to produce a renewable energy source for heat
production as a substitute for charcoal.
Early Crop Pest and Disease Detection Device, Esther Kimani, Kenya – A solar-powered tool using AI- and machine learning-enabled cameras to detect and identify agricultural pests and diseases
early.
Eco Tiles, Kevin Maina, Kenya – An environmentally-friendly roofing material made from recycled plastic.
Kiri EV, Christopher Maara, Kenya – An end-to-end affordable and clean energy mobility
provider, from electric motorcycles, scooters and tuktuks to battery charging infrastructure
across Kenya.
Knock Knock, Esther Mueni, Kenya – A domestic alert system for the deaf and hard of hearing, using a highly sensitive vibration sensor to detect physical knocks on a door and transmit this information to smartphones via Bluetooth.
Kuza Freezer, Purity Gakuo, Kenya – A durable low-cost solar-powered fridge freezer made from recycled plastic waste.
La Ruche Health, Rory Assandey, Côte d’Ivoire – A smart healthcare platform that provides communities in remote areas with direct access to vital healthcare information via WhatsApp, facilitates appointments to vetted medical practitioners, and digitises medical records for smooth patient onboarding.
MakSol Cooker, Paul Soddo, Uganda – A low-cost, solar-powered induction oven and hob designed for safe, zero-emissions indoor cooking by people in off-grid communities.
MAVUNOLAB Solar Dryer, Dr Evodius Rutta, Tanzania – A low-cost solar-powered dryer
developed to help small-scale fish processors and farmers in off-grid locations by enhancing food safety and hygiene for perishable food products.
Microfuse Stick Computer, Ivan Karugaba, Uganda – A compact and affordable device that plugs in to any screen, projector or monitor to transform it into a Wi-Fi-connected computer, increasing computer access and digital inclusivity.
MycoSubstitutes, Abubakari Zarouk Imoro, Ghana – An eco-friendly sewage treatment that uses viruses, bacteria, and fungi to treat and feed on faecal waste and produce yarn and leather substitutes.
PenKeep, Adaeze Akpagbula, Nigeria – A climate-smart remote sensing device that monitors and controls environmental conditions in poultry farms, ensuring optimal health and productivity of
chickens.
Second-Life Batteries, Léandre Berwa, Rwanda – A solution that repurposes retired electric vehicle (EV) batteries to be assembled as a back-up power supply for telecom towers and mini electricity grids.
The Kitchen Box, Tunde Adeyemi, Nigeria – An affordable biogas digester technology which turns any type of organic waste into animal feed and organic fertiliser, and generates clean energy for heating and cooking.
Yo-Waste, Martin Tumusiime, Uganda – A location-based mobile application that connects homes and businesses to independent agents for an efficient on-demand rubbish collection and
disposal service.
Other programs by the Royal Academy of Engineering
Aside from the Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation, the Royal Academy of Engineering also has many programmes in its portfolio which Impact Entrepreneurs can benefit from. Are you a problem solver? Do you have what it takes to benefit from these programs?
Read more on the variety of programmes to discover how you can take advantage of the opportunities to solve some of the world’s pressing challenges.
By: Lawrencia Kwansah
