Royal Academy of Engineering has shortlisted 16 ventures for its 2025 Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation after a rigorous process of sieving applications received from a record 30 countries.
Launched in 2014 by the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation, has supported 149 businesses from 22 African countries with invaluable training, mentoring, and communication resources, employing over 28,000 people and benefitting more than 10 million people.
The 16 shortlisted candidates for the 2025 Africa Prize, now in its 11th year, have each been selected for their innovative solutions designed to solve critical environmental, educational and health challenges to transform their communities.
According to Rebecca Enonchong, CEO of AppsTech and Africa Prize judge, “I am delighted to welcome these entrepreneurs to the Africa Prize community and look forward to following their journey as they develop their engineering solutions over the next few months.”
Once shortlisted for the Africa Prize, innovators will benefit from a comprehensive package of support designed to accelerate their businesses. This includes an eight-month training programme that covers key business skills, comprising financial management and market analysis to help the innovators turn their ideas into market ready ideas. Involvement in the Prize also includes access to expert business, technical, and sector-specific engineering mentoring and connecting the shortlisted candidates to the Academy’s extensive network of engineers and business leaders across the UK and Africa.
Innovators are invited to submit a second application during their training programme, when the Prize’s panel of judges will select four finalists to move through to the final event, to be held in Senegal in October this year.
The winner of the Africa Prize will receive £25,000, with three runners up awarded £10,000 each. The audience at the award ceremony will also vote on the winner of the ‘One-to-Watch’ award for the most impactful pitch, who will receive £5,000. All shortlisted candidates will become part of the Africa Prize Alumni of over 150 innovators, which offers access to exclusive opportunities for funding, development, and support.
Applications for Cycle 12 of the Africa Prize will open in early July, closing in mid-September. The programme will use a two-stage application process for the first time to streamline the process for both applicants and reviewers. Applicants should apply within this initial period to have a chance of being considered for the 2026 shortlist.
Shortlisted innovations and entrepreneurs:
- Aquamet, developed by Frank Owusu in Ghana, is a device that monitors the quality of water in local fisheries sending real time notifications to the farmers’ mobile phone to ensure higher yields.
- Autothermo, designed and created by Nura Izath in Uganda, is an innovative bracelet-like device worn by newborns that monitors and transmits real time data to carers such as temperature, fever and respiratory issues via an intuitive emoji system.
- Community Kitchens Powered by Renewable Energy created by founder Peter Njeri in Kenya, re clean cooking community kitchens that use a new, alternative clean cooking gas made from plastic waste.
- E-Safiri, founded by Carol Ofafa in Kenya, is championing the adoption of electric mobility by expanding charging stations and battery swapping points nationwide, harnessing both renewable and grid energy.
- Eco Plastic Wood, is a solution by Edgar Edmund Tarimo in Tanzania, converting discarded plastic waste into high quality lumber and furniture.
- Eco-Plates, created by Rui Bauhofer in Mozambique, are disposable plates made from recycled maize husks that are fully bio-degradable and infused with seeds that will germinate and grow once discarded.
- FarmBot is the brainchild of Sam Kodo in Togo – an autonomous robot that can monitor crop health and plant growth whilst detecting any pests and gathering soil data, all shared with farmers in real time.
- FreshPack, created by Editha Mshiu in Tanzania, is a cold storage solution that was inspired by human skin and is made from phase change materials, ensuring that produce can be stored and kept fresh for longer without the need for electricity.
- Hybrid Solar Dryers, designed by James Nyamai in Kenya, are agricultural dryers powered by biofuels as well as solar for all weather conditions to reduce losses during the rainy season.
- Mkanda Salama, created by medical student Paschal Kija in Tanzania, is a massaging device designed to be worn around the abdomen to manage post-partum haemorrhaging and reduce maternal death rates.
- Neo Nest, designed by Vivian Arinaitwe in Uganda, is a neonatal warming and monitoring device that relays key health indicators of a newborn in real time to medical professionals to prevent neonatal deaths.
- Play and Learn Web App, developed by Chinelo Okafor in Nigeria, is an AI powered device that enhances digital skills and develops individual pathways for each user to improve digital training.
- Smart Hive Device and Precision Pollination Technology, by Margaret Wanjiku from Kenya is an AI powered device that monitors key features within a beehive to combat bee colony collapse and boost crop yields.
- Smart Luku is a smart meter designed by Shabo Andrew in Tanzania, that allows individual tenants to measure and pay for their own electricity within a shared residence, with the option to share their electricity with other tenants.
- A Sustainable Agro-Tech Solution, by Ahmed Maruf from Nigeria, is an upscaling solution for scrap metal transformed into affordable agricultural and industrial machinery.
- TERP 360, created by Elly Savatia from Kenya, is an AI powered device that translates words into sign language in real time through an app offering greater inclusivity for deaf people.