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 helping them to maximise their impact. It also demonstrates the importance of engineering as an enabler of improved quality of life and economic development. This year, in a competition first, electrical engineer Anatoli Kirigwajjo from Uganda and biomedical engineer Edmund Wessels from South Africa, shared first place.
Kirigwajjo’s YUNGA community ‘panic button’ which is inspired by traditional African warning drums, is a local digital security network that connects neighbours to each other and police within a twenty kilometre radius. Using a physical device, smartphone app or SMS service, it provides security at low cost. Nearly a thousand households in thirty communities across central Uganda are already on the YUNGA network, which has successfully prevented over a hundred break-ins and related crimes. The team is aiming to connect 32,000 households across Uganda in the next two years.
Wessels won with FlexiGyn, a battery-powered, portable handheld device that enables gynaecologists to diagnose and treat women’s uterine problems without anaesthetic or expensive equipment. It aims to increase women’s access to reproductive healthcare, particularly in remote areas. Typical hysteroscopy systems are rigid, leading to high levels of patient discomfort, requiring bulky additional equipment for visualisation. The innovative FlexiGyn features a flexible scope with built-in light and camera, offering a more comfortable and efficient experience for both patients and healthcare providers.
“My co-founder, Chris Meunier and I aim to bring healthcare to a woman’s doorstep, precisely when and where they need it. FlexiGyn is portable, intuitive and user-friendly, allowing gynaecologists to offer quality screenings and timely interventions regardless of the patient’s location or lack of medical infrastructure. At the same time, it is designed to minimise discomfort,” says Wessels.
Wessels and Kirigwajjo have each been awarded first prize for the Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation, taking home £25,000 to further develop their products.
Other innovations shortlisted for the 2023 Africa Prize included a manually-operated multi-purpose earth brick machine from Ethiopia which makes interlocking compressed earth bricks using 90%-95% soil and 5%-10% cement. There was also a Smart Green Stove from Sierra Leone which is an efficient non-electric cooking device designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and health risks, slashing energy use by 70%.
The programme has thus far supported more than 130 entrepreneurs across 20 African countries and created more than 3,600 jobs, almost half of them for women.
Applications are now open for the 2024 Africa Prize
Read the full article here courtesy of the Royal Academy of Engineering
