Ugandan innovator Martin Tumusiime is among the four finalist competing for a £50,000 (About Shs235 million) Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation.
Mr Tumusiime is shortlisted for Yo-Waste, an app that allows people to schedule a domestic waste pickup in Kampala at the tap of their smartphone.
This year's winner will receive a prize of £50,000, with the other three finalists receiving £15,000 each - meaning Mr Tumusiime and his Yo- Waste team are already Shs70 million richer.
The Royal Academy of Engineering will also give out £5,000 prize under its 'One to Watch' banner - awarded to one of the shortlist of 16 whose business shows the most potential.
"The prize is double the amount of previous years in recognition of the Africa Prize's ten-year anniversary," the Royal Academy of Engineering said in a May 14 statement.
The awards form part of the Royal Academy of Engineering's investment of over £1 million to African innovators through grants, prizes and accelerator programme places during the 10th anniversary year of the Africa Prize.
The Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation, founded by the UK's Royal Academy of Engineering, is Africa's biggest prize dedicated to engineering innovation.
The Prize awards commercialisation support to African innovators developing scalable engineering solutions to local challenges. These innovations show the importance of engineering in improving quality of life and economic development.
The Royal Academy of Engineering will host the final of the 10th Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation on June 13 in Nairobi, Kenya.
Mr Tumusiime is vying to keep the prize - won by Anatoli Kirigwajjo last year - home and become the third Ugandan to cash in and grow their innovative ideas to communities they serve.
He is up against two Kenyans, Kevin Maina and Esther Kimani, who both want to emulate their compatriot Norah Magero who has benefited from winning the top prize, and Rory Assandey from Ivory Coast, the native of 2020 and 2021 winners Charlette N'Guessan and Noël N'guessan.
The Royal Academy of Engineering said the four finalists have developed solutions, including an environmentally-friendly roofing material made from recycled plastic and a smart healthcare platform providing direct access to vital healthcare information via WhatsApp.
It hailed the location-based mobile app connecting customers to independent agents for on-demand rubbish collection and disposal, and a solar-powered tool using AI and machine learning-enabled cameras to detect and identify agricultural pests and diseases.
These innovations directly address the UN's Sustainable Development Goals, including zero hunger, good health and wellbeing, sustainable cities and communities, reduced inequalities and climate action.
Africa Prize Judge John Lazar CBE said 2024 has been one of our most difficult shortlists to decide yet.
"We had a record number of applications which we shortlisted down to sixteen, and now we've narrowed it down to our four exceptional finalists," he said.
"Esther Kimani, Kevin Maina, Rory Assandey and Martin Tumusiime are examples of engineering excellence in Africa, and the Royal Academy of Engineering is proud to have played a part in their development journeys. These are individuals who we know will inspire the next generation of changemakers on the continent. Choosing a winner is not going to be easy."
Dr Lazar said the Royal Academy of Engineering has supported almost 150 entrepreneurs across 23 African countries.
"Our active alumni network offers lifelong support to our growing community, which has created more than 28,000 jobs, with more than ten million people having benefitted from shortlisted innovations over the past decade.
"This is why in 2024, the Academy is investing more than £1 million in our alumni through grants, prizes and accelerator programme awards to facilitate longer-term success of their innovations."
Inside Yo-Waste
Already assured of Shs70 million by virtue of becoming a finalist, Mr Tumusiime told the Nile Post that they will use the money to create more awareness about their solution in Kampala and also to market and sign up more users.
The Yo-Waste idea was inspired by the personal experiences of Mr Tumusiime, who grew up in Hoima before moving to live with his aunt in Kampala where he witnessed firsthand the pain that a lot of households and businesses in urban areas go through to manage their waste.
Inspired by the opportunity, In 2018, Tumusiime teamed up with four friends to venture into a technology-based waste management startup that could provide a solution to some of the biggest problems faced in the waste management industry of the continent.
Mr Tumusiime, Gideon Mpungu, Lubowa Enock, Namuli Brenda and Rogers Kibuule all have a background in computer science.
The concept was piloted in 2019 with support from Makerere University's College of Computing and Information Sciences in areas of Kisaasi and downtown and the scale up plan was initiated in 2020 to bring the idea to every waste generator in urban communities.
"We work with a network of local waste companies that offer reliable and affordable waste collection services to homes in Kampala," Mr Tumusiime told this news site.
"Instead of dumping waste in water channels or streets people can use our app to properly dispose of their waste eliminating waste pollution in our communities and improving cleanliness of our neighbourhoods."
Yo-Waste solutions such as the hauler app allows waste pickers who own a truck to sign up as partner garbage collectors and get access to a variety of our customers that need their services.
The 2024 Africa Prize finalists were selected from a shortlist of innovators who are applying engineering to solve problems faced by their communities.
The finalist selection took place following an eight-month training and mentoring programme, during which experts provided tailored, one-on-one support designed to accelerate and strengthen the businesses of each member of the shortlist.
Training covered business plans, scaling, recruitment, IP protection, sector-specific engineering mentoring, communication, financing and commercialisation.
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.
The Africa Prize has been generously supported by the UK government, including the UK's Global Challenges Research Fund and the 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 ten years.
2024 Finalists:
Yo-Waste, Martin Tumusiime, Uganda:
· Addressing Uganda's mounting waste crisis, Yo-Waste is a location-based mobile application that connects homes and businesses to independent agents for efficient on-demand rubbish collection and disposal.
· The technology uses routing and scheduling algorithms to optimise waste collection routes, which reduces costs and improves efficiency. It has GPS location technology to pinpoint collection points, which overcomes the challenge of people not having official addresses in informal residential areas.
· Yo-Waste currently serves over 1,500 customers including homes, businesses, and waste collection agents, with a goal to reach 20,000 users by 2026.
· With only 40 percent of waste disposed of properly in Africa, Yo-Waste's innovative approach tackles environmental pollution and health hazards caused by open dumpsites.
Early Crop Pest and Disease Detection Device, Esther Kimani, Kenya:
· A solar-powered tool utilising AI and machine learning-enabled cameras to swiftly detect and identify agricultural pests and diseases, reducing crop losses for smallholder farmers by up to 30% while increasing yields by as much as 40%.
· Kimani's innovation not only provides real-time alerts within five seconds of an infestation, offering tailored intervention suggestions, but also alerts government agricultural officers to the presence of diseases or pests, contributing to broader agricultural management efforts.
· This affordable alternative to traditional detection methods leases for just $3 per month, significantly cheaper than hiring drones or agricultural inspectors, and also provides valuable data for policymakers through an agricultural live-tracking data dashboard.
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Eco Tiles, Kevin Maina, Kenya:
· An environmentally friendly roofing material made from recycled plastic. Stronger and lighter than clay or concrete tiles, the innovation is a dual solution to plastic pollution and high building costs.
· Kevin and his team work with 500 informal waste collectors who provide plastics, including high-density polymers and lighter polyethene.
· The innovative manufacturing process involves a custom-made extrusion machine that blends different plastics at varying temperatures, eliminating the need for energy-intensive processes like kiln-burning and reducing carbon emissions. The tiles are enhanced with UV stabilisation chemicals and construction sand to improve durability and sturdiness.
· With a production rate of 1,500 tiles daily, each tile is pressed in a minute. Half a million Eco Tiles have been used to date in the construction of 348 houses.
La Ruche Health, Rory Assandey, Côte d'Ivoire:
· La Ruche Health connects communities to vital health information, advice, and services through "Kiko", an AI chatbot tool available on WhatsApp and mobile apps, and a digital backend solution to streamline documentation, billing, and data sharing for practitioners.
· Recognising the fragmented healthcare network in Côte d'Ivoire, La Ruche Health addresses accessibility barriers for the 43 percent of the population with limited literacy skills.
· Kiko serves as the patient's initial point of contact, offering personalised screening and facilitating appointments with qualified healthcare professionals.
· By May 2024, the AI has facilitated over 150,000 user interactions and 189 in-home and teleconsultation appointments, processing over $18,000 in medical billings, illustrating its effectiveness and scalability.
