Entries for prestigious Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation are open

Engineers from Zimbabwe and other sub-Saharan countries are invited to enter the fourth edition of the prestigious Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation.
 
Zimbabweans have featured on Africa Prize's shortlist each year since its inception in 2014. Zimbabwe has also been the biggest source of female engineering entries in the prize.
 
The Africa Prize encourages talented engineers, from all disciplines, to develop local solutions to challenges in their communities.
 
Engineers from all disciplines are invited to submit innovations with a social, economic or environmental benefit. Entries must be early-stage innovations which have the potential to be scaled-up and are ready for commercialisation. The deadline for entries is Monday 24 July 2017.
 
The Prize, founded by the Royal Academy of Engineering in the UK, selects a shortlist of innovators from across the continent. The candidates receive training and mentoring in which they learn to develop business plans and market their innovations. The group receives coaching on structuring their business, communicating effectively, focusing on customers and approaching investors with confidence.
 
After six months of training, finalists present their innovation to judges and a live audience, before a winner is awarded £25,000. Runners up receive £10,000.
 
Godwin Benson, a 27-year-old Nigerian systems engineer won the third Africa Prize this year for Tuteria, an online platform that links students to qualified tutors in their area and within their budget. Users find the skill they want to learn on the Tuteria phone app, set their budget, and wait to be connected to the nearest tutor.
 
Previous winners of the Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation are Tanzanian Dr Askwar Hilonga, creator of the NanoFilter, and Cardiopad founder Arthur Zang from Cameroon.
 
Africa Prize chair of judges, Malcom Brinded CBE FREng, said: "Engineering is crucial to social and economic development in South Africa and internationally. The Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation aims to recognise the importance of African engineers and to stimulate innovation and entrepreneurship, while encouraging young people to become engineers by creating successful role models."