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LONDON: Twelve new engineering innovations from Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe have been shortlisted for the Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation, Africa’s biggest prize dedicated to engineering innovation.
Applications for the Africa Prize, organised by the UK’s Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng), covered all engineering disciplines and came from 15 sub-Saharan countries.
The shortlist announced by the RAEng includes innovations in agriculture, nanotechnology, sanitation, security and mobile applications.
“During the next six months these shortlisted entrants in the Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation will participate in training and mentoring from top business development and engineering experts,” said Chair of the judging panel Malcolm Brinded CBE FREng, a Fellow of the RAEng. “The training will be focused on proving, scaling up and commercialising their engineering innovations.”
The 12 shortlisted entries are (further details in notes below):
Enabling inter-operability between different mobile networks in a multi-SIM environment (Kenya)
A removable burglar-bar system for emergency exits from buildings (Nigeria)
A fence tampering warning system for farmers (South Africa)
A mobile device application that teaches children how to read Shona (Zimbabwe)
An affordable multi-purpose degreaser/cleaner (Nigeria)
A precise and regulated fertiliser applicator for small-scale farmers (Zambia)
A full-cycle sanitation service to reduce pollution to the environment and prevent diarrheal disease (Uganda)
Portable crushing machines for small and medium size mining operations (Zimbabwe)
A mobile application for merchants and customers to make and receive card payments through their phones and tablets (Nigeria)
The integration of nanotechnology and sand-based water filtration for safe drinking water (Tanzania)
The mechanical pressing of bananas to produce enzyme-free clear banana juice (Tanzania/Uganda)
An industrial process and quality control system for the fluids manufacturing industry (South Africa).
Following the six-month period of training and mentorship, three finalists will be invited to present their innovations and an overall winner will be selected to receive £25,000, with two runners-up to be awarded £10,000 each.
The RAEng launched the Africa Prize to encourage engineers across all disciplines in sub-Saharan Africa to apply their engineering skills to develop scalable solutions to local challenges.
The prize celebrates innovation and entrepreneurship, and aims to improve quality of life and stimulate economic development.
The entries demonstrated the huge engineering ingenuity that exists in Africa. “Deciding on the shortlist was extremely difficult as the standard was high, and the entrepreneurial talent was clear to see,” said Malcolm Brinded.
“All the shortlisted entrants have innovations with the potential to have a significant, positive impact and will benefit from the networks and entrepreneurial skills gained during the next six months.
“The Royal Academy of Engineering is delighted with the response to this first Africa Prize. We are looking forward to the next phase, and the next round of applications in April 2015. I hope all ambitious African engineering entrepreneurs will start planning for that opportunity.”
Other judges of the Africa Prize are Dr Moses Musaazi from Uganda’s Makerere University and Managing Director of Technology for Tomorrow Limited; Dr Liesbeth Botha, former Executive Director at South Africa’s Council for Scientific and Industrial Research; Stephen Dawson, Chairman of Jacana Partners; Professor Calestous Juma HonFREng, Visiting Professor at MIT and Professor at the Harvard Kennedy School; and Dr Bola Olabisi, CEO of the Global Women Inventors & Innovators Network.
The Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation is generously supported by the Shell Centenary Scholarship Fund, Consolidated Contractors Company, ConocoPhilips and the Mo Ibrahim Foundation.
Summary of shortlisted entrants in Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation
A SIMple solution: multi-network mobile phone service
Samuel Njugana Wangui, University of Nairobi, Kenya
In Kenya, where this innovation originates, most mobile service users have at least two SIM cards to ensure signal strength across different carriers. Chura is a web-based system which allows users to move airtime between their different SIMs regardless of carrier, buy airtime from service providers that can be used on any network, send airtime to family members or employees, or exchange airtime for cash.
Adaptable safety: removable window burglar-bar system
Captain Abubakar Surajo, Nigerian Army Transformation & Innovation Centre, Nigeria
A removable burglar-bar system that enables a quick emergency exit from a building is a new innovation that makes burglar bars more versatile. A locking mechanism incorporated into the burglar-bar system can only be unlocked from the inside. Until unlocked the bars are impenetrable. This means that users can feel safe and secure within their home or business, without the burglar bars preventing their escape in an emergency.
Mobile payment application
Tolulupe Ajuwape, University of Ibadan, Nigeria
This is a Nigerian innovation which allows merchants and customers to make and receive card payments for products and services using their phones and tablets. Mobile money applications have had great success across Africa, and the application incorporates innovative functionality to take it a step further. This includes receipts issued by SMS or email, building customer databases for marketing, turning the host device into a Point of Sale terminal, and storage of transaction records via barcodes in a safe cloud-based platform. The business-orientated solution reduces the costs of banking, reduces the risks of cash related crimes, and gets small businesses to record their transactions so they become part of the formal tax-paying sector. The application also has a management tool for business owners to track their inventory and keep basic accounting of expenditure.
Mechanical system to prepare clear banana juice
Dr Oscar Kibazohi, University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania & Makerere University, Uganda
Clear banana juice is difficult to produce because pulping ripe bananas produces a highly viscous puree. The mechanical mashing of bananas without the addition of enzymes or extraction aids is an innovation from Tanzania to create clear banana juice. It is mirrored on the traditional process of kneading a mixture of ripe banana and grass or fibres until the juice oozes out from the pulp. The technology allows for juice-producing banana varieties, which fetch low prices and are being phased out, to be transformed into a more valuable product.
Real-time quality control for fluids manufacturing
Dr Reinhardt Kotzé, Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT), South Africa
Flow-Viz is an industrial system from South Africa (co-developed between CPUT and SP – Technical Research Institute of Sweden) which improves process and quality control in a fluids industrial operation. Its aim is to replace time-consuming off-line measurements in the quality control laboratory with continuous real-time process monitoring that takes place directly in the production line. Currently, operators take fluid samples and conduct time-consuming lab tests to monitor product quality. The innovation consists of a sensor unit, an operator’s panel and software with which to view the analysis of viscosity and flow-profiles. Pilot tests have been conducted on products such as cement grout, food products such as yoghurt, soup, beer and ketchup, bio-chemicals like ethanol as well as detergents, explosive emulsions and paper pulp.
Low-cost sustainable water filter system
Dr Askwar Hilonga, The Nelson Mandela African Institute of Science & Technology, Tanzania
This innovation integrates nanotechnology with sand-based water filtration to provide clean, safe drinking water. The process is affordable and sustainable and highly relevant in rural settings across Africa where access to clean water remains a huge challenge.
To the point: environmentally-friendly precision fertiliser applicator
Musenga Silwawa, Zambia Agriculture Research Institute, Zambia
Small-scale farmers in Zambia typically apply commercial fertiliser to their crops by hand, which not only results in inconsistent application but is labour intensive and time consuming. This innovation from Zambia is an efficient and consistent fertiliser applicator that eliminates fertiliser wastage and allows farmers to apply fertiliser to targeted spots with one simple action.
Latrine systems to improve urban sanitation
Samuel Malinga, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda
People living in the Ugandan city of Kampala rely heavily on traditional pit latrines in the absence of flushing toilets. Latrines are easily flooded, which increases the risk of diarrheal disease. This innovation involves several interventions across the process of a properly functioning sanitation system. Appropriate technologies are used to improve pit latrines, to provide an efficient emptying service, to transport and treat faecal sludge and to re-use treated sludge.
An even playing field: small-scale crushing machine for sustainable gold mining
Rujeko Masike, Harare Institute of Technology, Zimbabwe
The small to medium mining sector in Zimbabwe has a need for portable ore crushing machines. This innovation scales down jaw and roller machines and incorporates local materials to make affordable, portable and appropriate crushing machines for local miners.
Early warning system: precise fence security alarm system
Ernst Pretorius, University of Pretoria, South Africa
Mounted to the wiring posts of a fence, the Draadsitter (Afrikaans for ‘fence sitter’) innovation detects tampering on fences of up to 800 metres. Using sensors, the device warns owners of the location and nature of tampering on their fence, allowing them to react before security is breached. The sensor can also detect fires.
Mother tongue: Mobile phone application to teach children local language
Ian Mutamiri, University of Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe
This Android application from Zimbabwe teaches children how to read Shona by improving their syllable-to-sound association. The innovation is specially geared for children with reading disabilities. Known as NatiV, the app focuses on teaching children languages using native speakers whose accent and intonation they recognise. The application could also be used to teach other languages.
Low cost biodegradable degreaser for mining, agriculture and manufacturing
Chinenye Justin Nwaogwugwu, Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Nigeria
This innovation from Nigeria is an affordable, heavy-duty multi-surface and multi-purpose degreaser and cleaner that removes organic and inorganic dirt from washable surfaces. Produced using biodegradable raw materials, it is environmentally-friendly, non-corrosive and non-acidic, and cleans an array of materials without harming them, making it particularly suited to manufacturing, mining, and agricultural applications among others.
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