Terp 360, a sign-language app by Kenyan innovator Elly Savatia has won £50,000 Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation.
The Royal Academy of Engineering hosted the 2025 Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation in Dakar, Senegal.
Terp 360 is an AI-powered application that translates speech into sign language using lifelike 3D avatars. The app targets deaf and hard-of-hearing communities and has more than 2,300 locally recorded signs for cultural relevance and natural expression.
As the prize winner, Elly Savatia will take home £50,000 to support the next phase of Terp 360 which is expansion into the B2B market, focusing on education, corporate and healthcare sectors.
“I’m totally grateful for this and it is a testament to the innovative assistive technology work that is coming from Africa. I’m really looking forward to the excellence that will come out of Signvrse, the rest of the shortlistees and the African continent.” said Elly Savatia, creator of Terp 360.
The three other finalists are Uganda’s Vivian Arinaitwe with Neo Nest; Ghana’s Frank Owusu with Aquamet; and Kenya’s Carol Ofafa with E-Safiri. They each received £10,000. A further £5,000 One to Watch prize was awarded Mozambique’s Rui Bauhofer of Eco-Plates.
Neo Nest is a portable, low-cost neonatal warming and monitoring device preventing hypothermia during ambulance transfers from rural health facilities to referral hospitals while Aquamet is a smart water-quality monitoring device for smallholder fish farmers that tracks key parameters and provides real-time alerts and recommendations.
Kenya’s E-Safiri is a solar-powered charging and battery-swapping hubs for electric bicycles and motorbikes that also supply surplus power to nearby households.
Since its launch in 2014, the Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation has supported more than 160 innovators from over 20 countries. By equipping entrepreneurs with training, mentoring and networks, it helps turn promising ideas into scalable businesses.