In a landmark achievement, Martin Tumusime, the visionary behind Yo-Waste, has been shortlisted as one of the finalists for the prestigious Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation. Organized by the Royal Academy of Engineering, this accolade recognizes outstanding African innovators who are leveraging engineering to tackle pressing local challenges.
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Transforming Waste Management in Uganda
Martin Tumusime’s innovation, Yo-Waste, addresses a significant issue in Uganda’s urban areas: waste management. Yo-Waste is a location-based mobile application that connects homes and businesses to independent waste collection agents. This innovative platform uses advanced routing and scheduling algorithms to optimize waste collection routes, significantly reducing costs and enhancing efficiency. The app’s GPS technology pinpoints collection points, an essential feature for areas where official addresses are scarce.
With over 1,500 current users, including households, businesses, and waste collection agents, Yo-Waste aims to expand its reach to 20,000 users by 2026. This expansion is crucial in a region where only 40% of waste is disposed of properly, leading to severe environmental and health hazards from open dumpsites. Tumusime’s solution not only aims to improve waste collection efficiency but also seeks to mitigate these environmental and health risks.
Recognition and Support
The Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation, now in its tenth year, is the continent’s largest engineering prize. It has supported almost 150 entrepreneurs across 23 African countries, generating over 28,000 jobs and benefiting more than 10 million people through innovative products and services. This year’s finalists were selected from a shortlist of 16 innovators after an intensive eight-month training and mentoring program. The finalists will compete for the grand prize of £50,000, with the other three receiving £15,000 each. An additional £5,000 “One to Watch” award will be given to a shortlisted innovator identified by the audience as showing exceptional promise.
A Vision for the Future
Martin Tumusime’s recognition as a finalist underscores the impact of Yo-Waste and highlights the importance of innovative engineering solutions in solving local problems. His work exemplifies the type of scalable and sustainable solutions that the Africa Prize seeks to promote. By connecting communities to efficient waste management services, Yo-Waste contributes to cleaner and healthier urban environments, aligning with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, including sustainable cities and communities, and climate action.
The final, to be held on June 13, 2024, in Nairobi, Kenya, will be a celebration of these groundbreaking innovations. The event will feature live and online presentations, offering a platform for these innovators to showcase their solutions to a global audience.
About the Africa Prize
The Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation was established by the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2014. It aims to support ambitious African innovators developing scalable engineering solutions to address local challenges, thereby improving quality of life and fostering economic development. The prize has been supported by the UK Government and various charitable trusts, foundations, individual donors, and corporate partners.
For more information about the Africa Prize, visit www.raeng.org.uk/africaprize.
The recognition of Martin Tumusime and Yo-Waste as finalists in this esteemed competition is a testament to the potential of African innovation in driving sustainable development and creating positive change.