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African Inventers

The Innovation Prize for Africa, worth US$100,000, will be given for the first time in February 2012 to the best innovators in three areas: information and communication technology (ICT), green technologies, and health and food security. The runner-up will receive US$50,000.

The prize was announced last month (8 July) by the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and the African Innovation Foundation (AIF) based in Switzerland.

"The main objective of the initiative is to recognise ordinary Africans who have ideas that can be commercialised — ideas that can make a difference in the lives of people," said Aida Opoku-Mensah, director of the ICT, Science and Technology Division at UNECA.

Science and Development Network: Innovation prize set to reward African inventors