The Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation

03/12/2025

An app to translate speech into sign language, making everyday living more accessible for deaf people.

On International Day of Persons with Disabilities, explore the work of 2025 winner Elly Savatia, whose startup Signvrse created the groundbreaking app TERP 360. Using 3D avatars and AI, Terp 360 translates speech into sign language with lifelike fluidity, setting it apart from other tools on the market. Find out more: https://africaprize.raeng.org.uk/2025-cohort/elly-savatia/

30/11/2025

What’s it like to attend an Africa Prize Final? Watch the highlights from our 2025 event in Senegal 🇸🇳

Every final is an uplifting celebration of African engineering talent. We are so happy to have concluded the 2025 Africa Prize with such a momentous event, with Elly Savatia as the winner.

If you missed it or want to relive the action again, check out the full event video where you can watch all the One to Watch pitches, the finalist pitches, guest speakers and Elly’s winning moment.

Watch in English: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEhtLeevWbI
Watch in French: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5dN_rHXhlc

26/11/2025

It's World Sustainable , a day to champion a world where safe, affordable, and sustainable transport systems are available to everyone.

We are proud to be supporting Carol Ofafa, 2025 finalist, who is leading the way for accessible sustainable transport in Kenya. Her startup E-Safiri promotes electric vehicle adoption with her battery swapping service. Women are at the forefront of operations, providing an affordable and clean form of transport even in rural areas where the supply of electricity is not stable. Find out more about her business: https://africaprize.raeng.org.uk/2025-cohort/carol-ofafa/

13/11/2025

We are ecstatic to hear 2025 winner Elly Savatia on BBC Sounds Tech Life 🎉

Elly won the 2025 Africa Prize with his TERP 360 Signvrse app for deaf people. Using 3D avatars and AI, it translates speech into sign language with lifelike fluidity, providing deaf people with a way to read sign language on a screen while people speak to them in real-time. This sets it apart from other tools on the market, and has the potential to make a real difference across Africa and beyond.

Elly developed this app after noticing a class of 300 deaf students with only one interpreter. This stark disparity inspired him to explore ways to use mobile technology to bridge communication gaps for deaf people.

Listen to his journey from 19 minutes in: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/w3ct6zpn

25/10/2025

We're still buzzing from the 2025 for Engineering Innovation Final event on 16 October, where Elly Savatia of Kenya was named as the 2025 winner for his sign language translation app, Signvrse Terp 360.

He will receive £50,000 to scale his AI-powered application that translates speech into sign language using lifelike 3D avatars. The tool addresses interpreter shortages and improves accessibility in classrooms and public services. Learn more:
https://raeng.org.uk/news/kenyan-innovator-elly-savatia-named-the-2025-africa-prize-for-engineering-innovation/

16/10/2025

The Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation, the largest dedicated engineering prize in Africa has named Elly Savatia of Kenya as the 2025 winner for his sign language translation app, Terp 360.

Congratulations to Elly who will receive £50,000 to scale his AI-powered application that translates speech into sign language using lifelike 3D avatars. The tool addresses interpreter shortages and improves accessibility in classrooms and public services.

The 11th winner of the Africa Prize was announced at the Africa Prize Final event on 16 October, in Dakar, Senegal, as the conclusion to an eight-month business programme of training, mentoring and support for 16 African innovators. This final event was part funded by the UK’s Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, and marked the first time the Africa Prize has been hosted in Francophone Africa, in a bid to raise awareness of the Africa Prize and applications from this region.

Special congratulations to the three finalists – Vivian Arinaitwe (Uganda), Neo Nest; Eng. Carol Ofafa (Kenya), E-Safiri; and Frank Owusu (Ghana), Aquamet – each received £10,000. A further £5,000 One to Watch prize was awarded to Rui Bauhofer, with Eco-Plates.

To learn more about the final event and the Africa Prize, visit: https://www.raeng.org.uk/news/kenyan-innovator-elly-savatia-named-the-2025-africa-prize-for-engineering-innovation/

16/10/2025

We are ready for the 2025 for Engineering Innovation Final event!

Fourteen innovators will be taking to the stage tonight - one will be announced as the One to Watch Award winner, and one will be named the 2025 Africa Prize winner. Who will they be? To follow along, you can go to YouTube and visit:

French stream: https://youtube.com/live/T5dN_rHXhlc
English stream: https://youtube.com/live/jEhtLeevWbI

Quinze innovateurs. Sept pays. Cinq secteurs. Une finale en direct. Qui remportera le plus grand prix africain dédié à l'innovation en ingénierie ? Soyez par...

16/10/2025

We are ready for the 2025 for Engineering Innovation Final event!

Fourteen innovators will be taking to the stage tonight - one will be announced as the One to Watch Award winner, and one will be named the 2025 Africa Prize winner. Who will they be? To learn about the shortlist, finalists and about the Africa Prize, visit: https://africaprize.raeng.org.uk/about-the-prize/2025-africa-prize-final/

16/10/2025

📢 Today is the big day!

The cohort are taking to the stage TONIGHT to deliver a pitch in front of a live audience. Will you be at Africa's biggest event for engineering innovation?

Join us in-person at the Noom Hotel in Dakar, Senegal from 4.30pm UTC, or online from 6pm UTC by registering here: https://africaprize.raeng.org.uk/about-the-prize/2025-africa-prize-final/

15/10/2025

Day three wrapped up✅

Today the cohort got the opportunity to perfect and practice their pitch decks, in preparation for the big day tomorrow. Thank you to our former Head judge Malcolm Brinded for volunteering to provide one on one pitch practice with the finalists.

Have you registered to attend yet? You can do it here, to join us in-person or online, and select to follow along in English or French: https://africaprize.raeng.org.uk/about-the-prize/2025-africa-prize-final/

15/10/2025

Starting day three in style 🙌🏾

This morning, the cohort took a trip to the African Renaissance Monument, a 52-metre-tall bronze statue located on the second-highest land peak in Senegal. It is one of two peaks which used to be a dormant volcano, called the Collines des Mamelles.

We are just one day away from the 2025 Final event in Dakar, Senegal. Have you registered to attend yet? You can do it here, to join us in-person or online, and select to follow along in English or French:
https://africaprize.raeng.org.uk/about-the-prize/2025-africa-prize-final/

14/10/2025

We have completed day two of training💪🇸🇳

The cohort heard all about the principles of negotiation, to figure out what their preferred style is. To put what they learned into practice, they did a role play exercise in pairs that involved buying/selling a flat, to a more complex equity deal where they played a VC investor or a founder. Huge thanks to Sénégalaises In Tech - five of their entrepreneurs visited the training today to share their insights.

Learn more about this year's cohort and join the Final event on 16 October by visiting our website. You can register for in-person or online attendance, and follow along in English or French: https://africaprize.raeng.org.uk/about-the-prize/2025-africa-prize-final/