Here’s proof we can innovate our way out of any problem

Last week, engineers, innovators and entrepreneurs from across the continent converged in Nairobi for the 2017 edition of the Innovation Showcase.

Ten African finalists – including four Kenyans, four Ugandans, one Tanzanian and a Ghanaian – were battling it out for the chance to win a share of more than $500,000 (Sh51.6 million) in awards from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME).

Successful businesses start off by solving a problem, and then packaging and replicating the solutions. In this vein, the Innovation Showcase finalists were required to present innovations that offer solutions to environmental, economic and social problems afflicting all seven billion of us humans.

The contestants were judged on how well they displayed user knowledge, efficient hardware development and manufacturing, and the practicality of their implementation strategy.

The annual competition is open to individuals with an existing prototype who are interested in receiving financing, technical support and access to industry networks to help them take their product to market.

We take a look at the 19 outstanding gadgets and systems from Africa that have made it to the Innovation Showcase finals the last two years. The one thing they have in common? They prove that necessity is indeed the mother of invention.

1. Sign-io

Developed by Kenya’s Roy Allela, Sign-io is a special glove that translates sign language to speech. It was developed to address the language barrier between sign language users and the general public.

2. Vein Locator

Locating a patient’s vein can be difficult and when poorly done, it can lead to tissue trauma, higher economic costs and poor patient satisfaction. Various devices have been proposed to ease the process of drawing blood or administering medication, but they’re not always suitable for low-resource settings. This is where Emmanuel Kamuhire’s non-invasive Vein Locator comes in. The Ugandan innovator’s tool uses the principle of red light absorption by the deoxy-haemoglobin content in a patient’s vein. Deoxy-haemoglobin absorbs red light, which means veins show up clearly on the patient’s skin.

3. HydroIQ

This is one of the devices that seeks to tap into the growing market of connected devices (Internet of Things). Developed by Kenya’s Victor Shikoli, HydroIQ is a GPS and Internet-enabled device that plugs into existing water supply systems to automatically monitor water use, quality and leakages. The device makes use of sensors to collect and relay data to an online system for analysis, turning traditional water systems into smart water grids.

4. Science Set

Ghanaian Charles Antipem’s science set is an example of how mundane items can be re-purposed into ingenious solutions. The Science Set closely resembles the traditional ones carried by millions of schoolchildren across the world, but has been modified into a portable, practical and highly scalable science lab able to fit in a student’s backpack or desk.

5. Matibabu

According to the World Health Organisation, a child in the developing world dies of malaria every minute. Matibabu hopes to offer an early detection system to address these tragic statistics. Developed by Brian Gitta from Uganda, the device presents healthcare providers with a non-invasive method of testing for malaria. It works through a device called a matiscope, which is plugged into a smartphone. The user then puts their finger inside the device and it detects malaria through the skin.

6. Social Inclusion Project

Kenya’s Esther Mwangi was looking to address the poor access to essentials in low-income areas, and came up with the Social Inclusion Project. Leveraging on the ‘Kadogo economy’ her social enterprise boosts access to sanitary items like pads, diapers and condoms through locally produced vending machines.

7. Purifaaya

In 2010, while volunteering in Uganda, Kathy Ku was inspired to address the lack of clean, safe water for more than 10 million Ugandans – nearly a third of the population. Her solution was a low-cost, ceramic water filter made from locally sourced materials. Millions of Ugandans already store their drinking water in clay pots, so the filters didn’t have to leap any cultural acceptance hurdles. Purifaaya filters, which are made from a mixture of ground clay and sawdust, cost $20 (Sh2,100) and last two years. The firing process burns the sawdust, which creates a porous network that allows water through, but not bacteria.

8. Smart Brooder

Chicken rearing is one of the most attractive investments in Kenya, with farmers able to make a return within six weeks on broilers. It’s biggest drawbacks, however, are the birds’ susceptibility to disease and temperature variations. George Chege’s Smart Brooder seeks to address the latter issue. The automated brooder aims to improve farmers’ efficiency of production and reduce the mortality rate of young chicks. It senses dips or rises in temperature in chicken coops, and alerts farmers of any adjustments or critical levels via text message.

9. BabyScope

BabyScope is an Android-based digital heartbeat monitor developed by Uganda’s Angeline Awiti Muga. The application is aimed at making foetal heart monitoring easier in a bid to reduce the number of stillbirths and newborn deaths in low and medium-income countries. It assesses foetal well-being during labour by monitoring foetal heart rate data and analysing it.

10. Multi-Crop Thresher

Farmers spend days or even weeks manually threshing grains like rice, maize and sorghum during harvest time. Imara Tech’s Multi-Crop Thresher aims to make the process more efficient and boost smallholder farmers’ productivity. The thresher is a portable, locally-manufactured machine that reduces the amount of time spent separating staple grains from plants. The Tanzanian makers say their machine, in the case of maize for instance, reduces the threshing time for a 100-kilogramme sack from three hours to two minutes, freeing up farmers to pursue other productive activities. The thresher also reduces post-harvest losses and improves grain quality.

11. Banza

Kenya’s Patrick Kiruki came up with Banza, a foldable toilet that uses disposable, biodegradable bags to contain waste material. The bags can store waste for up to 24 hours odour-free, according to its makers.

12. Smart Mobile Farming

Kenya’s Taita Ngetich has created a smart mobile farm that features a system of sensors buried in the soil and placed all over a greenhouse to relay information regarding temperature, humidity, soil moisture and water supply. The sensors feed data to an online system where the farmer, through a mobile application, can regulate water, open vents and care for the greenhouse without having to be near it.

13. Green Rock Drill

Developed by Tanzania’s Lawrence Ojok, the tongue-twisting Green Rock Drill is an inexpensive mining tool that is powered by a motor driven by a bicycle wheel. It provides a decent alternative for small-scale miners who can’t afford advanced machines and use primitive mining methods.

14. Sisal Decorticator

This tool helps farmers remove the cortex of a sisal leaf, leaving the valuable fibre intact and saving farmers the hassle and waste that comes with carrying out the process manually. The Sisal Decorticator was developed by Kenya’s Joel Kariuki, and addresses a problem faced by sisal farmers in much of Africa.

15. Kokoboda

The Kokoboda leverages on the ubiquitous bodaboda and provides an improvement that many owners find handy. Developed by Kenya’s Grace Njoora, Kokoboda is a four-wheeled cart that turns a motorcycle into an affordable truck. The cart can also be detached and used as a regular handcart.

16. Kukua

This solution is aimed at helping smallholder farmers thrive in an age of climate change, where traditional information on rainfall patterns no longer holds. Developed by Tom Vanneste and deployed in Nigeria, Ghana, Tanzania, Mozambique and Kenya, Kukua is a low-cost, solar-powered weather station that provides temperature, wind and humidity data to farmers via an online platform.

17. Flowbyte

Developed by Nigeria’s Chuma Asuzu, the device helps motorists by providing a smart mechanism to calculate the amount of fuel actually dispensed at a fuel station. Meter tampering is a prevalent problem in Nigeria and other parts of West Africa. The device logs a vehicle’s fuel use and sends the data to an online platform, enabling real-time analytics that would reveal any tampering. It is aimed at helping motorists save money by gaining information on reliable fuel stations.

18. Grit Meter

This is a web-based smart meter developed by Nigeria’s Grit Systems. It monitors the power consumed from various sources, runs analytics on the data collected, and then details the findings on web and mobile platforms, giving users insights into their utility bills, diesel-generator fuel usage or solar battery health. It aims to use data to help consumers make informed energy choices.

19. Kamata

Kamata, developed by Uganda’s Edmand Aijuka, seeks to address the issue of electricity theft, which disrupts power access for homes and businesses, and causes financial losses for utility companies. Kamata is installed outside meter boxes and monitors the current flowing through the mains cables. The remote-controlled device notifies power companies when meters are tampered with, and cuts power supply. It then send the location of the vandalism, the meter number affected, and the type of interference to a control centre. The power supply can only be restored by the control centre, meaning the meter box cannot be rebooted without the power utility’s knowledge.