Meet the 16 innovators shortlisted for the 2026 Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation

•      Africa Prize 2026 unveils 16 innovators across 11 African countries who will compete for a share of the £85,000 Africa Prize fund.
•      Lesotho and Niger based innovators shortlisted for the first time, after a record number of applications from more than 30 countries.
•      Since its inception in 2014, the Prize has supported 165 businesses from 22 countries that employ more than 40,000 people and benefit more than 11 million people through their innovative products and services.

The Royal Academy of Engineering has shortlisted 16 innovators for the 2026 Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation. The Africa Prize, which is part funded by the UK’s Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, is the continent’s largest prize dedicated to stimulating, celebrating, and rewarding engineering innovation and entrepreneurship across sub-Saharan Africa. The innovators will enter an eight-month programme of training, mentoring and networking opportunities ahead of the final in October.

This year’s shortlist features innovators located across 11 African countries, with products ranging from AI-powered maternal, cardiac health tools and mobile dialysis technologies to digital education for biomedical and coding skills and smart public transport platforms. Other innovations include solutions to sustainability challenges, such as renewable energy systems for off-grid communities and hospitals, smart agritech platforms, low-cost clean water supply and waste management systems.

Rebecca Enonchong FREng, Chair of the Africa Prize judging panel, said:

"It’s incredibly rewarding to welcome talented innovators from so many different countries into the Africa Prize community this year. The 2026 shortlist is representative of the diverse range of local engineering solutions and businesses that are developing across the continent and their ability to address crucial challenges in healthcare, education, transport and sustainability. We look forward to supporting these entrepreneurs to scale up their impact and benefit local communities.”

Elly Savatia, winner of the Africa Prize in 2025 with his groundbreaking sign language app, Terp 360, said:

“Winning the Africa Prize last year marked a major milestone for us at Signvrse. Through the APEI programme, we strengthened both the engineering behind Terp360 and the business behind our work, developing a robust, investor-ready business model while refining our technology roadmap. The Prize also connected us with partners and advisors who helped us build the infrastructure needed to make communication accessible for diverse Deaf communities. I look forward to seeing how the new shortlist of innovators enhance their own business journeys by participating in the programme.”

Shortlisted innovations and entrepreneurs from Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia have each been selected for their solutions to critical environmental, educational and health challenges in their communities: 

• Fusion Wind Turbine, created by Johannes Amo-Aye in Ghana, is a hybrid wind and solar microgrid system that delivers reliable, clean electricity to off-grid communities, supports and reduces reliance on diesel generators.
• MoyoECG, developed by medical doctor Alice Muhuhu in Kenya, is an AI-powered, wearable electrocardiogram device enabling rural clinics to deliver hospital-grade cardiac screening without internet access or mains electricity and support early detection of heart and potential maternal complications.
• Renal Roads is a mobile dialysis unit designed by Naom Monari in Kenya to bring hospital-grade kidney care directly to rural communities so that patients can access life-saving treatment without regularly travelling long distances.
• Automated Vermicomposting Device by Royford Mutegi from Kenya is a solar-powered solution that converts food waste into pest-resistant fertiliser pellets, enabling smallholder farmers to restore soils and reduce reliance on imported chemical fertilisers.
• Farmflex is an AI-enabled smart farming platform by Mochesane Mpali in Lesotho, helping African smallholders to grow more food with less water, reduce risk and gain direct access to credit, insurance and new markets.
• Malawi Drop by Tadala Mtimuni from Malawi is a low-cost, refillable household water treatment device delivering safe drinking water at the point of use for off-grid rural communities, removing the need for complex manual dosing.
• Likita Care, created by Mamane Kabirou in Niger, is a locally manufactured monitoring kit for hospitals and clinics, combining vital signs, cardiac and prenatal monitoring with offline AI decision support and digital protocols to improve triage and patient safety.
• Efiwe, developed by Chidi Nwaogu in Nigeria, is a mobile-first coding platform that runs offline on basic smartphones, enabling young people excluded from traditional digital education to learn web development with AI support in 189 languages.
• Just Add Water by Derick Nwasor from Nigeria is a quantum and AI-optimised regenerative fuel cell technology, providing clean energy and medical-grade oxygen to healthcare facilities, reducing dependence on fossil fuels and third-party oxygen delivery.
• HarakaPlus is a smart mobility platform created by Millicent Kariuki in Rwanda that provides live bus location and passenger-demand data, helping commuters and transport operators to make public transport more reliable across African cities.
• Peecycling is a solution by Dyllon Randall in South Africa, transforming human urine into safe liquid fertiliser and reusable water, helping cities to conserve water and reduce dependence on imported fertilisers.
• LabZero is a virtual tissue culture lab designed by Sincengile Ntshingila in South Africa that enables students to practise growing and maintaining cells safely on a digital platform, reducing contamination, cutting plastic waste, and widening access to biomedical research training.
• Jangalma, created by Moustapha Diop in Senegal, is an AI-powered education platform providing affordable, personalised learning and tutoring to secondary school students across Francophone Africa, regardless of income, location or connectivity.
• ZaidiApp by Allen Kimambo from Tanzania is an eco-fintech platform helping cities to digitise waste collection, formalise informal recycling work, and unlock financial services for waste workers and contractors.
• WaterBank, developed by Faith Kuya in Tanzania, is a solar-powered, self-running water utility that filters and desalinates water, uses AI to prevent breakdowns, and enables cashless access via prepaid radio frequency ID cards for off-grid communities.
• DawaMom is an AI-enabled maternal and reproductive health platform created by Tafadzwa Kalisto in Zambia to help women access trusted guidance in local languages, alongside diagnostics, triage and referrals through community and clinic-based care.

Shortlisted innovators will take part in an eight-month training programme focused on core business skills, including financial management and market analysis, to help them develop their ideas into market-ready ventures. As part of the Prize, they will also receive expert business, technical, and sector-specific engineering mentoring, alongside access to the Academy's extensive network of engineers and business leaders across the UK and Africa.

The programme’s panel of judges will then select four finalists who will pitch to win the 2026 Africa Prize at a live final event in Johannesburg in October.

The winner of the Africa Prize will receive £50,000, while the three runners up will each be awarded £10,000. The audience will then select the winner of this year’s ‘One-to-Watch' award for the most impactful pitch, worth £5,000. All shortlisted candidates will join the Africa Prize alumni community of more than 160 innovators, gaining access to exclusive opportunities for funding, development, and ongoing support. Since 2014, the alumni have introduced nearly 700 products and services to the market in more than 40 countries across five continents, and developed solutions linked to each of the UN Sustainable Development Goals on a local level.

Applications for the next Africa Prize shortlist will open in mid-July and close in mid-September 2026.

Notes for editors

1. The Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation, founded by the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2014, is Africa’s largest award dedicated to supporting engineering innovation and impactful entrepreneurship. The annual Africa Prize provides long-term support for innovators through funding, training, and networking opportunities, with a proven legacy of scaling solutions that transform lives and address local challenges. By equipping engineers with the tools and networks they need, the Africa Prize drives sustainable development, innovation and prosperity across Africa. 
   
   The Royal Academy of Engineering offers lifelong support and connects the Africa Prize alumni to global networks who can accelerate their business and technology development. The Africa Prize has been generously supported by the UK Department for Science, Innovation and Technology’s Official Development Assistance funding, as well as charitable trusts and foundations, individual donors and corporate partners over the last twelve years.   

2. The Royal Academy of Engineering creates and leads a community of outstanding experts and innovators to engineer better lives. As a charity and a Fellowship, it delivers public benefit from excellence in engineering and technology and convene leading businesspeople, entrepreneurs, innovators and academics from every part of the profession. As a National Academy, it provides leadership for engineering and technology, and independent, expert advice to policymakers in the UK and beyond.

   The Academy’s work is enabled by funding from the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, corporate and university partners, charitable trusts and foundations, and individual donors.