Anatoli Kirigwajjo, a Ugandan founder and developer of Yunga Tech has been announced the joint winner of the highly coveted 2023 Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation.

Kirigwajjo was announced winner alongside Edmund Wessels from South Africa during a function held at Labadi Beach Hotel in Accra, Ghana.

 The two, who are engineers by profession, each received a cash prize of £25,000.

In his acceptance speech, Kirigwajjo said, “This is amazing. This is historical. This is safety across Africa. If there’s anyone that has learned a lot during this program that is me and thanks to Katrina from the Royal Academy of Engineering (RAE) that taught me beyond the technical skills, I respect her so much for her kindness and guidance, and this recognition goes to her as well. For very many reasons we [the YUNGA team] have always wanted to be on this stage and now we are on this stage. We are very grateful to RAE and we are sure that we have Africa united for security thank you so much.”

The finalists and shortlisted innovators were first given chance to pitch their innovations to a panel of judges and a live and online audience. The judges included Malcolm Brinded, Rebecca Enonchong, Dr. John Lazar, Dr. Ibilola Amao, Dr. Alessandra Buonfino, and guest judge, Sewu-Steve Tawia.

Chukwuemeka Eze from Nigeria and Gibson Kawago from Tanzania who emerged as runners-up each received £10,000.

Kirigwajjo developed YUNGA, a local digital security network that connects neighbours to each other and police within a 20km radius via a physical device, smartphone app or SMS service, providing security at a low cost.

 Wessels from South Africa is a biomedical engineer who has developed FlexiGyn, a battery-powered portable handheld device enabling gynecologists to diagnose and treat a woman’s uterus without anesthetic or expensive equipment, increasing women’s access to reproductive healthcare, particularly in remote areas.

The Royal Academy of Engineering through the Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation has supported more than 130 entrepreneurs across 20 African countries with a rigorous business training program and lifelong support through the Africa Prize alumni network.