Ugandan young innovator, Phillippa Ngaju Makobore has been named among the 10 nominees who will be contending for the 2017 innovation Prize for Africa which will be awarded in Accra, Ghana.
Ngaju was nominated for his innovation; Electronically Controlled Gravity Feed Infusion Set (ECGF), a medical device designed to accurately administer intravenous (IV) fluids and drugs by controlling the rate of fluid flow based on feedback from a drop sensor.
Over 10% of children admitted to East African hospitals need immediate infusion therapy. Findings from the first trial indicate that over-infusion in children increased the absolute risk of death by 3.3 % at 48 hours.
Erroneous delivery rates can result into serious adverse effects.
The ECGF solves this problem as it is very easy to operate and has key safety features which include alarms for rate of infusion (rapid or slow), total volume (over or under) and faulty sensors.
A battery utilizing a hybrid (AC mains and solar) charging bed powers the device.
The awards which will take place on July 18th will pit innovators from nine African countries including Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Kenya, Liberia, Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda and Zimbabwe who have been shortlisted.
Among the shortlisted are innovators that have demonstrated incredible proficiency through innovative solutions addressing challenges in agriculture value chain, health care, energy, communications, service industries as well as surveillance using drone technology.
They underwent a rigorous selection process by a renowned panel of judges including corporates, academia, technology and scientific experts representing top African innovation influencers to reach the 10 finalists out of over 2530 innovators across 48 African countries.
Now celebrating its sixth year under the theme “African Innovation: Investing in Prosperity”, IPA is the premier innovation initiative in the African continent, offering a grand share-prize of USD$185,000 (Roughly 664,150,000 UGX) and incentives to spur growth and prosperity in Africa through home-grown solutions.
IPA has seen tremendous growth in applications and increasing interest from both innovators and innovation enablers over the years.
To date, it has attracted more than 7500 innovators from 52 African countries, making it a truly Pan African initiative.
The Foundation has supported past winners and nominees with approximately US$ 1 million to move their innovations forward.
Due to exposure generated by IPA, past winners have gone on to secure over US$30 million in investments to grow and scale their businesses.[related-posts]
Full List of Nominees
- Philippa Ngaju Makobore, Uganda: Electronically Controlled Gravity Feed Infusion Set (ECGF).
- Peris Bosire, Kenya: FarmDrive.
- Nokwethu Khojane, South Africa: Lakheni, Turning Social Capital into Buying Power.
- Omolabake Adenle, Nigeria: Voice Recognition and Speech Synthesis Software for African Languages.
- Nzola Swasisa, Democratic Republic of Congo: Lokole.
- Badr Idriss, Morocco: Atlan Space.
- Aly El-Shafei, Egypt: Smart Electro-Mechanical Actuator Journal Integrated Bearing “SEMAJIB”.
- Dougbeh-Chris Nyan, Liberia: New Technology for Rapid Detection of Many Infections Using Only One Test.
- Olanisun Olufemi Adewole, Nigeria: Sweat TB Test, A non-invasive rapid skin test to detect Tuberculosis.
- Gift Gana, Zimbabwe: Dr. CADx.
