Four entrepreneurs will now compete for grant capital at the grand final of the 2025 Africa Prize, the continent’s largest award devoted to promoting engineering innovation.
Since its inception in 2014 by the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Africa Prize has provided 165 companies from 22 nations with priceless resources for communication, training, and mentoring.
Three runners-up will each receive GBP10,000 (US$13,000), while the winner of the Africa Prize will receive GBP25,000 (US$32,000). The winner of the “One-to-Watch” award for the most powerful pitch will also be chosen by the audience at the ceremony; they will receive GBP5,000 (US$6,500).
Following the creation of a shortlist of 16 earlier in the year, those startups participated in a rigorous eight-month program of business support. Four business owners have now been chosen by the Africa Prize judging panel to advance to this year’s main event, which will take place on October 16 in Dakar, Senegal.
Among them are Elly Savatia, a Kenyan entrepreneur who developed Terp 360, a ground-breaking app to assist those who are deaf or hard of hearing, and Vivian Arinaitwe, a biomedical engineer from Uganda who created Neo Nest, a portable, inexpensive neonatal warming and monitoring device intended to prevent neonatal hypothermia during ambulance transfers from rural health facilities to referral hospitals.
Frank Owusu, a Ghanaian entrepreneur who created Aquamet, a smart water quality monitoring device that helps smallholder farmers increase yields and decrease fish mortality, and Carol Ofafa, a Kenyan engineer who established E-Safiri, a battery-swapping service that offers EV users a practical and easily accessible solution, round out the list.
“We’re incredibly excited to be hosting the Africa Prize in Senegal this year, marking the first time that the final has been hosted in a Francophone country. This is a great moment to celebrate the unique strengths in innovation and opportunities that exist for entrepreneurs across Francophone Africa, including for many of our Africa Prize alumni growing businesses that address local and global challenges,” said Rebecca Enonchong, chair of the Africa Prize judging panel.
“Our four finalists this year illustrate the power of engineering and technology to improve lives through innovation in so many crucial sectors, including neonatal healthcare, enhanced sign language translation, sustainable agriculture, energy and transport for rural communities. It has been a pleasure and a privilege to follow each of their journeys through the Africa Prize programme and we look forward to selecting the winner from this inspiring group of entrepreneurs.”
