The eight finalists hail from Ghana, Kenya, South Africa and Uganda. They are:
BreastIT (Kampala, Uganda) is a portable, artificial intelligence (AI)-powered diagnostic tool for breast anomalies such as cancer. The handheld, pocket-sized ultrasound imaging system helps radiologists to make focused assessments and accelerate treatment decisions at the point of care.
E Tuk Tuk Solar E Cycle (Nairobi, Kenya) designs and builds solar-powered electric vehicles including the Solar E Cycle, a solar powered tuk tuks (three-wheeled motorised vehicles) with a range of 50km and capable of reaching speed of up to 35km/h. The Solar E Cycle produces 3kWh per day which is enough to light a typical Kenyan home.
HearX Group’s hearScope (Pretoria, South Africa) is a first-of-its-kind smartphone video-otoscope with integrated, automated ear disease diagnostic capability. The high-quality variable magnification video-otoscope pen connects to a smartphone running the hearScope application. Users are able to easily take images or videos of a person’s eardrum. The recorded media is then uploaded into the mHealth Studio Cloud data management system for automated diagnosis.
Safi Organics (Naivasha, Kenya) develops cheaper locally produced higher-quality fertilisers which are custom-tailored to local soil and crop requirements. The company claims it helps farmers improve yields by about 30% and net income by about 50%.
Savanna Circuit Tech’s MaziwaPlus Pre-Chiller (Kapenguria, Kenya) is a mobile solar-powered chilling in-transit system that can be mounted on motorbikes, offering quality control, traceability, and maximised profits for dairy producers and co-operatives. The solution was developed in response to milk post-harvest losses due to transportation over great distances in rural Kenya.
SayeTech Multi-crop Thresher (Kumasi, Ghana) produces multi-crop threshers that help reduce grain waste. The company claims its multi-crop thresher can reduce post-harvest losses by up to 30%, while also increasing income of smallholder farmers by up to 50% every year.
Sesi Technologies’ GrainMate Grain Moisture Meter (Kumasi, Ghana) is a low-cost grain moisture tester that helps grain farmers reduce post-harvest losses by making it easier to accurately measure grain moisture content before storage. At $100, the GrainMate is more than four times cheaper than conventional grain moisture meters and Sesi Technologies claims it offers superior accuracy.
Solar Freeze (Machakos, Kenya) provides access to portable solar-powered cold storage for farmers of perishable agricultural produce — like fish, fruits, and vegetables — to help them reduce the significant challenge of post-harvest food loss in Kenya.