Meet the 2022 Africa Innovation Fellowship Cohort!

Entrepreneurs and Their Businesses. 

Since 2019, Africa Innovation Fellowship (AIF) has been developing women-owned STEM innovations across sub-Saharan Africa in partnership with the Royal Academy of Engineering. AIF 2022 is an eight-month leadership and business development opportunity for African women innovators with an early-stage engineering innovation or start up looking to grow, scale and prepare to be investor ready.

rETURN TO ABOUT "Africa Innnovation fELLOWSHIP"

Annlin Matabane
Reach Archaeology  Consulting

South Africa

South Africa's first 100% black woman-owned and led specialist archaeology and cultural heritage resources consulting management agency. We specialize in culturally and ethically informed, customizable grave relocation solutions for a range of individuals, businesses, consultants, law firms, developers and mines. 

Ayebaza Sandrah
GAS Foundation Uganda

Uganda

GAS Foundation's 3DBTK innovation is a low-cost toolkit with 3D printed educational biology models that enable proper comprehension of Biology and Science Basic education among lower secondary education students (UCE) and Primary education pupils in Uganda.

Diane Houlie 
​SarahGrace Creations

​South Africa 

SarahGrace Creations is a fashion brand that focuses on reshaping the standard of beauty from what social media has come to portray to an authentic beauty that is rooted in the identity and personality of each individual woman. We use our fashion skill and creativity as a tool to cultivate an authentic view on beauty in girls and women that is not derived from social media standards.

Efuetlefac Nkongmik
Innovative Clan LTD

Cameroon

Innovative Clan is a Fintech startup that enables the digital payment of Tuition and Exam Fees via Mobile Money in Schools in Cameroon.
Rural Zones pay via a USSD Shortcode (offline), while urban areas use the web platform (online). Currently, the option for lending fees is being rolled out for parents who do not have access to pay fees on time.

Our solution is equally the official reporting portal used by the Ministry of secondary education as well as over 1,000 examination centers for the Cameroon examination board (GCE) to accept payment of exam fees. ​

Ekambi Rosine
​​SUITCH SAS

​Cameroon

​SuiTch SAS was established to foster the growth of a new class of entrepreneurs in Africa. Micro and small entrepreneurs seem to be stuck in their situation due to the lack of dedicated support provided to them. Commercial banks and other financial institutions have abandoned this segment. The big picture is to create a digital bank for this population with an appropriate financial support through custom products. Our platform is based on mobile and web applications for end-users and merchants.

Elizabeth Awuor
Yala Center for Commercial Insects and Soil Health
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Kenya

The Yala Centre for Commercial Insects and Soil Health (YACCISH) is an Agribusiness with focus on sericulture and the production of biochar-based organic fertilizer, silkworm cocoons and mulberry
produced at the centre are further processed into silk thread and mulberry tea respectively. The
company recycles agromiller waste, through innovative carbonization technology, into biochar for
production of the biochar-based organic fertilizer. The novel technology is central to carbon sequestration in soil for improved soil health to increase crop yield. YACCISH leverages its business on the pillar of circular economy to generate environmentally benign products from waste, and redesign sericulture products to purposed materials for textile and biomedical industries.

Esther Mueni
Neverest

Kenya

The problem of Deaf persons missing out on important sound alerts which could result in them being unaware of the environment around them led us to develop a solution to convey these sounds to them using AI and IoT technologies. Neverest is capitalizing on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IoT) technology, working to include Machine Learning in our solution to present a more accurate depiction of different sounds and give a solution that well befits the problem that these individuals are facing.

Janet Sawari
TAIR Labs "The AI Review"

South Africa

TAIR Labs is an AI Innovation and Research lab designed for AI/IOT (hard-tech) inventors. The lab is managed on a research platform that utilizes AI driven tech that stores member inventions on a cloud. What makes the virtual software unique is its blockchain IP management protocol. Members pay a monthly subscription to access the platform, and the platform could also be used by investors who are interested in IOT inventors, to access their portfolios.

Jennifer El-Osemwingie
El Gazelle Foods
​
Nigeria

A More hygienic and innovative solution in Nigeria; processing and drying Kilishi in a DEHYDRATING MACHINE eliminates the drudgery of doing so in the open air as it has been for over 30 years in Nigeria .The improved hygiene and taste of the manufacturing through mechanization and engineered solutions by Food engineers, Nutritionists and Scientist  has also increased our market value.

Karuna Veerapen - Goinden
Kotpiale LTD

Mauritius

Kotpiale is a Mauritian clothing brand where everything which is created under the brand is made locally by several suppliers. Our business model is innovative because it does minimum harm to the environment, creating sustainable and impactful fashion in a busy world.​

Keitumetsi Pule
Legal Standpoint (Pty) Ltd

South Africa

Legal Standpoint is an app-centred legal tech startup working to democratize legal education and services. The app functions as a learning platform and a legal market to help people have a better understanding of the law through our library of easily-digestible, multi-language, gamified articles as well to help facilitate ease of access to independent legal practitioners and small to medium sized law firms who tend to be more accessible in their pricing.

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Lynesha Pillai
Kolabo Solutions

South Africa

Kolabo Solutions exists within the WASH sector for the organization's ability to create agile, innovative and client focused solutions, whereby we place the highest focus on accountability of social impact of projects and ensure we are transparent and measurable on our deliverables to society, with the backing of data and robust systems.

Nompumelelo Xaba
Zano Baby Couture 

​South Africa

Zano Baby Couture Sleepwear is made of great quality, it is stylish and luxurious. It is not only made for sleepwear but can also be worn in the lounge and still feel comfy and relaxed. We also have a vision to have our products in big retail market and also supplying beauty spas and hotels with robes.

Nosisa Dhlomo
​Afrizulu Tech

South Africa

We're about Robotics and AI School Kits and Classes to build a generation of innovative and creative industry leaders in the globe emerging from South Africa.

Ntombekhaya Manyika
NTY Construction and Energy Innovations

South Africa

NTY Construction and Energy Innovation, constructs and renovate green buildings using material from tyre recycling such as roof slates, industrial flooring and engineering material. Our unique point is our ability to recycle tyres into roof slates which is cost effective and address  carbon emission. 

Nuru Luhindi
Little Innovators School

Kenya

Nurturing tech innovators and entrepreneurs in the future of work through STEM and emerging technologies hence uplifting living standards in Africa and the world. Our unique selling point is that children are the ones coming up with these innovations and hence a long-term legacy into their innovation journey as they grow and eventually get into employment.

Pontsho Mpholofolo
Realohile Chemicals

South Africa

Reolohile Chemicals turns human waste into fertilizer, while preserving land and saving lives. We bring dignity into communities that still uses pit/latrine toilets. We save the land by revisiting already closed land/holes that are filled up with human waste by using the chemical to purify the land for further building or farming on said land.​

Refilwe Lesufi
Prana Water & sanitation

South Africa

Prana Water and Sanitation offers bespoke, decentralized, modular, full waterborne wastewater treatment systems that turn black and grey water into reusable water for toilet flushing and irrigation. The solution is applicable to remote and rural areas where municipal sewer sanitation is not available, and can be powered by renewable energy. The system can also be retrofitted onto existing septic tanks to improve water quality and reduce operation costs. They are cost effective, easy to install and require minimal maintenance over their design life cycle period.

Salimatou Karamoko
Lomeco

Cote d'ivoire

Cote d’Ivoire produces more than 800,000 tons of plastic waste every year, only 5% is recycled and the rest ends up in the environment. This causes environmental and health damages. Faced with this, our company LOMECO, whose vision is to put innovation at the service of sustainable development in order to build a healthy living environment for our communities, has set up the "GREEN BLOCKS" project which deals with the recycling of plastic waste. This project contributes to  the achievement of the SDGs 11, 12 and 13.

Our recycled plastic pavers, in addition to being an ecological alternative to the cement pavers frequently used, are much more durable, ultra solid, economical and customizable.

Syson Kunda
PingAcademy

South Africa

PingAcademy incubates innovation in children and young adults through various coding and robotics short courses as well as personal and employability development programmes to prepare them for 4IR/5IR Workforce.

Verna Xoagus
Larvene Sanitary

Namibia

Laverne Sanitary manufacture reusable, sustainable, Eco-friendly and cost-effective sanitary pads. The pads can be used for 2-3 years, they are cost effective in the long run and guarantee a clean and safe environment as they do not harm the environment and that is why they have a distinct advantage over the current disposable pads.

Virtue Oboro
Tiny Hearts Technology

Nigeria​

Tiny Hearts Technology produces the Crib A'glow solar-powered phototherapy device and deploys them to hospitals and health centers for the treatment of jaundice in newborns. The Crib A'glow Unit is responsible for the detection and treatment of jaundice in newborns. The uniqueness of the device is that it not only treats jaundice but also detects the level of bilirubin in the baby's blood.

Winnie Sigei
Dukapepe

Kenya

Dukapepe is focused on empowering Dukas (Kiosks) for Stronger Communities by Digitizing the Informal Retail Chain in Africa while representing 70% of the 600 billion USD informal retail market in Africa, Dukas face numerous challenges including: highly fragmented supply chain, lack of price transparency, lack of access to business growth funds and poor inventory management leading to sub-optimal cash flow management to which we address.

Zama Ngwenya
Zama's Choice Spices & Herbs

South Africa

Zama's Choice Spices & Herbs was founded to address the increasing incidence of lifestyle diseases caused by seasonings and foods with high salt content and added MSG. We offer a range of seasonings that not only taste great but also provide health benefits. Our goal is to educate our customers on the benefits of using natural spices and herbs to enhance the flavor of their meals while also promoting good health.
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As blenders of NO-MSG added seasonings, we use only natural spices and herbs to create our unique blends. By using our seasonings, you'll not only enjoy a delicious meal but also have a better after-meal experience with reduced risk of reactions and lifestyle ailments. Choose Zama's Choice Spices & Herbs for a healthier and more flavorful cooking experience.

Zanele Matome
Welo Health
​
South Africa

We solve the problem of access to healthcare at home and in the workplace through technology and human touch.