2019 Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation Shortlists in Cape Town

The shortlist for the Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation 2019 has been announced in Cape Town, South Africa, recognising the most promising entrepreneurial engineers from across sub-Saharan Africa. The 16 shortlisted innovations come from six countries, with five female engineers among them.
 

 See the list below

 1.Prof Dele Sanni, 53, an agricultural engineer from Nigeria with 3-D-3-P, a unique industrial dryer that gives Nigerian farmers and producers an affordable, local option for drying feed, sawdust and cereal grains.

 2. Muzalema Mwanza, 34, a civil engineer from Zambia with Baby Delivery Kits, a collection of essential tools to assist midwives in delivering babies at home or in under-resourced clinics across the country.

Lusaka

 3. Collince Oluoch, 27, a self-taught software developer from Kenya with Chanjoplus, an affordable digital tool for health workers to identify, register and track vaccinations, without requiring internet connectivity.

4. Kenneth Guantai, 33, a mechanical engineer from Kenya with Elo-Cart, electrified handcarts that use regenerative energy to ease the load carried by vendors, hospital workers and airport staff.

5.Dr Lukas du Plessis, 46, a mechanical engineer from South Africa, with a hybrid, five-axis machine tool that gives local manufacturers an affordable option for shaping metal, wood and other materials.

 6. James Ochuka, 23, a mechanical engineer from Kenya with JuaKaliSmart, an online portal that connects juakali – artisans of Kenya’s informal manufacturing sector – directly to customers.

 7.Chukwunonso Arinze, 25, a mechanical engineer and physicist from Nigeria with KAOSHI, a foreign exchange market where users swap currencies, eliminating bank charges and long queues.

Abuja

 8.Beth Koigi, 27, a project planner from Kenya with Majik Water, which harvests water from the atmosphere in especially arid areas, and sells affordable and clean water to communities through unmanned ATMs.

9.Neo Hutiri, 30, an electrical engineer from South Africa, with Pelebox Smart Lockers, which dispense chronic medication securely, helping patients in public health systems avoid queues, and easing pressure on clinic staff.

10.Roy Allela, 25, an electronics engineer from Kenya with Sign-IO, a smart glove that translates sign language into speech in real time; to help children with speech and hearing impediments.

 11.George Chege, 27, a biosystems engineer from Kenya with Smart Brooder, a system that automates gas heating on chicken farms, takes the guess-work out of the equation and reduces reliance on coal.

 12. Anne K. Rweyora, 31, an industrial designer from Uganda with Smart Havens Africa, which builds smart, off-grid homes from affordable and sustainable materials, sold to new home owners on a rent-to-own model.

 13. Safiatou Nana, 26, a renewable energy engineer from Burkina Faso with SolarKoodo, an off-grid solar irrigation system for farmers in semi-arid areas with a low water table, aimed at co-operatives with low equipment budgets.

14.Paul Matovu, 29, a forester from Uganda with The Vertical Farm, a farm-in-a-box vertical garden to grow microgreens in urban settings, custom built for users with little space for garden.

15.Dr Obi Igbokwe, 46, a medical doctor from Nigeria with WellNewMe, an online assessment that identifies health risks from user data, to help prevent illnesses like cancer and diabetes.

16. Elizabeth Kperrun, 32, a business graduate from Nigeria with Zenafri, a series of apps that teach toddlers and young children basic numeracy and literacy skills in their native tongue, using local folklore.

The Africa Prize encourages ambitious and talented sub-Saharan African engineers from all disciplines to apply their skills to develop scalable solutions to local challenges, highlighting the importance of engineering as an enabler of improved quality of life and economic development. Crucial commercialisation support is awarded to a shortlist of innovative applicants through an eight-month period of training and mentoring.

Following this period of mentorship, finalists are invited to present at an event held in Africa and a winner is selected to receive £25,000 along with three runners-up, who are each awarded £10,000.

24 Year Old Ugandan won the Africa Prize in 2018

A 24-year-old Ugandan software engineer has won the Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation. Brian Gitta is the first Ugandan to win the prestigious Africa Prize, and the youngest winner to date.

Gitta and his team developed Matibabu, a device which tests for malaria without drawing blood. Matibabu, which means ‘medical centre’ in Swahili, is a low-cost, reusable device that clips onto a patient’s finger, requiring no specialist expertise to operate. The results are available within one minute on a mobile phone that is linked to the device.

The team win the first prize of £25,000. At an awards ceremony in Nairobi, Kenya on 13 June 2018, four finalists from across sub-Saharan Africa delivered presentations, before Africa Prize judges and a live audience voted for the most promising engineering innovation.

The Africa Prize is generously supported by The Shell Centenary Scholarship Fund and the UK Government's Global Challenges Research Fund.

Historical sponsors have included Consolidated Contractors Company, The Foreign and Commonwealth Office's Africa Prosperity Fund, ConocoPhillips and the Mo Ibrahim Foundation.