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  • Women make up three of the four finalists for this year’s Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation final, as a Togolese-based innovator features for the first time, alongside finalists from Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa.

Inventors of an off-grid neonatal crib for jaundiced babies, portable vaccine fridges, a Visa-backed card that gives unbanked individuals access to the digital economy, and a fuel-cell-based hydrogen generator that converts gas into electricity have been selected as finalists for the prestigious Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation 2022.

The four finalists - three of whom are women - from Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa and Togo, were selected from a shortlist of 16 African innovators for their ability to use engineering to solve problems for African communities.

The finalists were chosen after receiving eight months of training, mentorship and support, with expert volunteers providing bespoke, one-on-one support with business plans, scaling, recruitment, IP protection, financing and commercialisation.

The Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation, founded by the UK’s Royal Academy of Engineering in 2014, is Africa’s biggest prize dedicated to engineering innovation, and has a proven track record of identifying successful engineering entrepreneurs. Now in its eighth year, it supports talented sub-Saharan African entrepreneurs with engineering innovations that address crucial problems in their communities in a new way. 

The 2022 Africa Prize winner will be selected on 15 June 2022 and will receive £25,000, along with three runners-up who are each awarded £10,000. Local supporters, industry peers, engineering and entrepreneurial enthusiasts as well as media are encouraged to attend the Africa Prize free, virtual event.

The final will be hosted by Dr Shini Somara, a mechanical engineer and fluid dynamicist turned TV presenter, children's book author, podcaster, TEDx speaker and mentor. Guest speakers will include:

Malcolm Brinded CBE FREng, judge on the Africa Prize panel, said “Once again, it was very tough to select the finalists from such a high-quality shortlist. But these four entrepreneurs stood out because their innovations could have huge potential impact in sub-Saharan Africa, and their businesses look destined for success. It’s great to again have three finalists who are women - and four different countries represented, with a finalist from Togo for the first time in our 8-year history.”

Ibilola Amao, judge on the Africa Prize panel, said “Delivering a consensus on the top four candidates from an exceptional sixteen is quite a task that gets tougher each year. The entries are becoming more impressive, year after year. Hearty congratulations to our 2022 winners who we know will make us very proud.”

The 2023 Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation is now open for entries. Individuals and small teams living and working in sub-Saharan Africa with a scalable engineering innovation to solve a local challenge are invited to enter. The deadline for entries is 19 July 2022.  

2022 Finalists

  • From Nigeria, Virtue Oboro's innovation is Crib A’glow, a foldable, photo-therapy crib that treats and monitors jaundiced newborns. Virtue and her husband began work on the idea after their son was severely jaundiced after birth, and have since grown the team to include engineers, designers and paediatricians. Crib A’glow can run on either grid or solar power, uses LED lights and actively monitors the level of bilirubin in the baby’s body. It is completely mobile, and a tenth of the cost of the average phototherapy device used in developed countries. To maximise energy efficiency, light rays are focused on the baby’s body instead of spreading out over the crib.
  • Norah Magero's team in Kenya developed VacciBox, a small, mobile, solar-powered fridge that safely stores and transports temperature-sensitive medicines such as vaccines, for use in field vaccinations and in off-grid hospitals. The VacciBox can also be used to transport blood and tissue. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the cold-chain challenges faced by healthcare practitioners and supply chains in distributing temperature-sensitive medicine were highlighted globally, and remain a problem for many types of vaccines. VacciBox hopes to address this.
  • Dr Jack Fletcher and the HYENA team in South Africa developed the POWER POD technology, a diesel generator replacement technology that produces on-site, on-demand and reliable electricity. Jack and the HYENA team developed the POWER POD technology as a way to deploy fuel cell technology into Africa, where hydrogen distribution is all but non-existent. HYENA’s POWER POD is silent, generates no vibration or unhealthy particulates, and does not require frequent maintenance as there are no moving parts.
  • Software engineer Gaël Matina Egbidi and her team in Togo created Solimi, a prepaid card and account backed by Visa that does not require users to be customers of a specific bank. Africa’s financial inclusion problem is significant - with at least 66% of the population estimated to be unbanked. West Africa has the highest banking fees in the world, with fewer than 10% of Togolese having a bank card. Gaël and her team created the financial product to improve financial inclusivity. This could significantly reduce financial costs, giving unbanked individuals more access to the digital economy.

The remaining 12 candidates from the 2022 Africa Prize shortlist are now eligible for a One-to-Watch Award worth £5,000, which will be judged on the strength of their business pitch by the audience. They will compete for the public’s vote at the Africa Prize final on 15 June.

One-to-Watch Award candidates:

  • A-Lite Vein Locator, Dr Julius Mubiru, Uganda—A device that maps patients’ veins out as shadows on their skin, helping medical staff insert a drip or draw blood more easily.
  • Agelgil, Afomia Andualem, Ethiopia—A sustainable range of packaging and tableware made from agricultural by-products such as barley and wheat straw.
  • Aquaponics Hub, Lawrencia Kwansah, Ghana—A kit for new users to set up their own aquaponics system, complete with smart sensors to monitor crops and fish, and an online marketplace to sell produce.
  • Bleaglee, Juveline Ngum, Cameroon—A sustainable cooking system that includes a smokeless cookstove made from recycled metal scraps, and bio-briquettes made from plastic and biomass waste.
  • Coldbox Store, Adekoyejo Kuye, Nigeria—An off-grid cold storage solution for farmers to store and sell fresh produce without relying on the electrical grid.
  • Genesis Care, Catherine Wanjoya, Kenya—A system to dispense and later dispose of feminine hygiene products. The system is installed to give young girls access to affordable products.
  • HoBeei, Mariam Eluma, Nigeria—An online free-cycle platform where users can upload unwanted or unused items in exchange for virtual currency with which to purchase other goods with.
  • Kukia, Divin Kouebatouka, The Republic of the Congo—A process that transforms the invasive water hyacinth plant into an absorptive fibre that can clean up oil spills and stop oil leaks on land or water.
  • Peec REM, Philip Kyeswa, Uganda—A remote monitoring and metering system for off-grid solar installations. It also alerts utilities to blackouts or tampering.
  • SolarPocha, Oluwatobi Oyinlola, Nigerian—An outdoor workstation, a solar-powered space where students can connect to WiFi and off-grid electricity.
  • TelMi, Fabrice Tueche, Cameroon—A set of devices that help nurses monitor patients, respond to alarms, and collect data in order to improve workflow and response times.
  • TERAWORK, Femi Taiwo, Nigeria—An online platform that connects users to freelancers, so small business owners can find and safely outsource key skills such as coding and accounting.

Notes for Editors

  1. The Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation, founded by the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2014, is Africa’s biggest prize dedicated to developing African innovators, and assisting them to maximise their impact. It awards crucial commercialisation support to ambitious African innovators developing scalable engineering solutions to local challenges and demonstrates how engineering can improve quality of life and economic development.
  2. Judges, mentors and expert reviewers for the Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation have volunteered a combined 2,300 hours of support to entrepreneurs across the continent since the Prize was established – estimated at well over £1 million in support.
  3. The Royal Academy of Engineering is harnessing the power of engineering to build a sustainable society and an inclusive economy that works for everyone.

In collaboration with our Fellows and partners, we’re growing talent and developing skills for the future, driving innovation and building global partnerships, and influencing policy and engaging the public.

Together we’re working to tackle the greatest challenges of our age.

For media enquiries please contact: Chris Urquhart at the Royal Academy of Engineering Tel. +44 207 766 0725; email: [email protected]