What's Hot

    Free trade: Qatar and Morocco conclude second round of talks

    January 31, 2023

    MENA startups raised almost USD 4 billion in 2022

    January 30, 2023

    Autochek acquires KIFAL Auto, expands to North Africa

    January 27, 2023
    Gulf Africa ReviewGulf Africa Review
    • Industry
    • Infrastructure
      1. Airport
      2. Hospitality
      3. Ports
      4. Power
      5. Rail
      6. Roads
      7. Transport
      Featured

      Osun seeks to capitalise on infrastructure momentum

      Infrastructure May 21, 2018
      Recent

      KarmSolar receives USD 3 million to develop Farafra Solar Grid

      January 11, 2023

      AD Ports Group reports strong growth

      January 3, 2023

      Hyosung Heavy Industries to start construction on South African energy storage project

      December 12, 2022
    • Business & Trade
      1. Agri-Business
      2. Entrepreneurship
      3. FDI
      4. Legislative
      5. MEA
      6. Telecoms
      7. Properties
      Featured

      Analysts predict bullish future for Nigeria’s REITs market

      Business Business & Trade January 21, 2018
      Recent

      Free trade: Qatar and Morocco conclude second round of talks

      January 31, 2023

      Gold-for-oil: Ghana attempts to address forex pressures

      January 18, 2023

      AD Ports Group reports strong growth

      January 3, 2023
    • Finance
      1. Banking
      2. Islamic finance
      Featured

      Social investment platform InvestSky raises USD 3.4 million

      Business Entrepreneurship Finance January 12, 2023
      Recent

      Social investment platform InvestSky raises USD 3.4 million

      January 12, 2023

      African startups face challenges in 2023

      January 10, 2023

      MENA startups raised USD 125 million in December

      January 6, 2023
    • Innovation
    Gulf Africa ReviewGulf Africa Review
    Business

    African innovators recognised at Commonwealth 70th anniversary

    Fifteen trailblazers won the Commonwealth Secretary-General’s Innovation for Sustainable Development Award
    June 19, 20196 Mins Read
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
    Share
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email

    The Duke of Sussex presented prizes to innovators in international development at a garden party celebrating the Commonwealth’s 70th anniversary in London.

    Fifteen trailblazers won the Commonwealth Secretary-General’s Innovation for Sustainable Development Award, with winners attending a special ceremony on Friday, 14 June.

    Amongst them was Elizabeth Kperrun from Nigeria (pictured below), CEO of Zenafri – a company that simplifies learning for African children and young adults by creating mobile applications and video content that educates them in their native language.

    Upon receiving her award from Commonwealth Youth Ambassador, Prince Harry, she said: “This award will give us more visibility. It goes a long way towards helping us achieve our objective of making education more accessible for under-privileged kids in Africa.”

    Fellow winner Rosette Muhoza from Rwanda (pictured above) founded the social enterprise My Green Home, which recycles plastic waste by mixing it with sand to make eco-friendly paving stones.

    She said: “This award represents perseverance, possibility and pride. One of the biggest challenge we have is finding support. We want people to encourage social entrepreneurs – these are the people who don’t sleep because they are trying to solve the problems in our communities.”

    John Oroko (Kenya), Chukwudi Anyanaso (Nigeria), Peter Rubashumira Tibigambwa (Uganda) and Franca Ma-ih Sulem Yong (Cameroon) were also recognised.

    Each award winner received a trophy, a certificate and a £2000 prize. They were selected by an independent jury, based on the impact for potential of their innovations to advance one or more of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

    The initiative seeks to showcase impactful innovations and forward-looking solutions that help countries advance the Commonwealth Charter values.

    Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland said: “I am impressed by the talent that is mobilised and multiplied through Commonwealth connection.

    “There are also many other inventors and innovators of all ages in every country and community of the Commonwealth and it is they who drive us on towards a future of health, hope and harmony.”

    It is hoped the competition will help shine the spotlight on revolutionary ideas that could improve prosperity, protect the planet, promote peace and justice and encourage partnerships in the Commonwealth.

    This is the first year of the awards, which were open to all citizens and organisations of the 53 Commonwealth member countries.

    Full list of winners

    Rosette Muhoza, Rwanda
    My Green Home is a social enterprise that is addressing the challenges of urban waste management, promoting green cities and fighting climate and plastic pollution through recycling.

    Elizabeth Kperrun, Nigeria
    Zenafri simplifies learning for African children and young adults by creating mobile applications and video content that educate them in their native languages and in contexts they understand. This also teaches children across the world about Africa’s culture, history, languages and heritage. With a focus on early education and gender, the applications have already been downloaded over 120,000 times with 2000 people using the apps every single day

    Wayne Neale, St Lucia 
    Greening the Caribbean is an innovative St Lucia company that tackles environmental challenges to mitigate the effects of climate change, protect the ocean and agricultural economies and promote sustainable livelihoods.

    Christopher Nesbitt, Belize
    Maya Mountain Research Farm’s primary innovations include the use of tropical staple food trees in the agroforestry system, the application of biochar from crop residues to premium cultivars of cacao, turmeric, vanilla, and timber with cooperative family labour as the economic driver.

    Alfred Bubba Cook, Australia
    As part of its Panda Labs innovation programme, World Wildlife Fund Australia experiments with new approaches to solving complex global social and environmental challenges. This includes exploring emerging technologies like block chain.

    John Oroko, Kenya
    Selina Wamucii is an inclusive mobile phone driven digital platform and social enterprise for smallholder farmers that promotes prosperity by empowering smallholders/pastoralists to earn sustainable incomes.

    Chukwudi Anyanaso, Nigeria
    The People and Planet Life Foundation focuses on the need to tackle extreme rural poverty and hunger among female and small scale farmers by boosting agricultural production to support self-sustaining growth and employment.

    Commonwealth Games Canada, Canada
    Commonwealth Games Canada focusses on the integrated sport development and sport for development programming to promote individual and community social development, and build national sport system capacity.

    Nitesh Kumar Jangir, India
    Saans is a neonatal breathing support device for low resource settings, with multiple powering options, which maintains respiration and oxygenation in premature neonates with RDS (Respiratory Distress Syndrome) by providing constant airflow and pressure to keep the lungs open during transport to a tertiary care setting.

    Ata Ul Haq, Pakistan
    Youth Association for Development Pakistan promotes women’s empowerment and peace through its 4Ps philosophy (Peace, Promotion, Prevention and Protection). The project has influenced policy change to legally safeguard the women and girls who have been affected by sectarian conflict.

    Leilua Lino, Samoa
    Leilua was raped by her own biological father at age 9 and was evacuated under Samoa Victim Support Group’s (SVSG) shelter and care in 2011. In 2018 she walked tall to court and achieved justice against her father who is now imprisoned for 29 years.

    Following her traumatic experience, she created a Peace Garden in 2017 as her way of healing from her experience of gender based violence. She fronts the ‘Positive Movement Campaign’, which has reached 20,000 children to date.

    Peter Rubashumira Tibigambwa, Uganda 
    The Prisons’ Justice Change makers programme aims to address the barriers prisoners face to access justice such as lengthy pre-trial detention, inadequate access-to-legal advice and information, inadequate coordination and collaboration between the Justice, Law and Order Sector actors and prisons and inadequate utilisation of alternatives to incarceration.

    Franca Ma-ih Sulem Yong, Cameroon
    With studies linking social media use to increased rates of anxiety and depression, Franca Ma-ih Sulem Yong started the DigCit SDG project to direct young people’s energy towards positivity by encouraging them to use these same tools used for negativity towards contributing to the SDGs.

    Joanna Ewart-James, United Kingdom
    The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) has been advocating for the Commonwealth to take effective measures to achieve SDG8.7 since 2016 across the Commonwealth. SDG8.7 which aims to eradicate forced labour, end modern slavery and human trafficking and secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour, including recruitment and use of child soldiers, and by 2025 end child labour in all its forms.

    Mohamad Shafie Taib, Malaysia
    The Malaysian Government set a target of 45% carbon reduction for each State. Melaka supports Malaysia’s Vision 2020 to be a high income low carbon developed nation with a minimum GDP per capita of USD15,000 by the year 2020.

    The programme’s goal is to institutionalise the use of day-to-day green technology in non-urban communities so that green living permeates all levels of Melaka society to consistently preserve the environment, instil the culture of low carbon living and manage solid waste sustainably.

    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Telegram Email
    Previous ArticleThe Dangote Group deploys Freshworks to unify I.T service
    Next Article Trump administration aims to ramp up trade with Africa

    Related Posts

    Business & Trade

    Free trade: Qatar and Morocco conclude second round of talks

    January 31, 2023
    Business Innovation Startups

    MENA startups raised almost USD 4 billion in 2022

    January 30, 2023
    Business Entrepreneurship

    Autochek acquires KIFAL Auto, expands to North Africa

    January 27, 2023
    Add A Comment

    Comments are closed.

    LATEST STORIES

    Free trade: Qatar and Morocco conclude second round of talks

    January 31, 2023

    MENA startups raised almost USD 4 billion in 2022

    January 30, 2023

    Autochek acquires KIFAL Auto, expands to North Africa

    January 27, 2023

    Wafeq raises USD 3 million in seed round

    January 26, 2023

    African startups double debt financing

    January 25, 2023
    • Business
      • Agri-Business
      • Entrepreneurship
      • FDI
      • Legislative
      • MEA
      • Properties
      • Telecoms
    • Infrastructure
      • Airport
      • Hospitality
      • Ports
      • Power
      • Rail
      • Roads
      • Transport
    • Finance
      • Banking
      • Islamic finance
    • Commodities
      • Agri commodities
      • Metals & minerals
      • Precious metals
    • Culture & Society
      • Education
      • Energy
    GAR logo
    © GulfAfricaReview.com 2014-2022, All Rights Reserved.

    Gulf Africa Review is a trade news and future networking platform for businesses leaders and trade organisations, established to first inform and secondly assist in facilitating the ongoing business and trade relations between the Gulf Cooperation Council countries and Sub-Saharan Africa. We aim to provide an apolitical voice for this channel of economic activity in a way that benefits both geographies by improving the availability of information about market events, developments and opportunities, while publicising the successes achieved by this ever-broadening regional relationship.

      Subscribe to our newsletter

      Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.