Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation 2025

Accelerating business growth for African engineering start ups

The Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation was launched in March 2014 to stimulate, celebrate and reward innovation and entrepreneurship across sub-Saharan Africa.

Since then it has provided invaluable training, mentoring and communications support to 149 businesses across 23 countries. It also has an established alumni programme with 71% of Africa Prize alumni currently generating revenue. Our alumni have also raised $39 million in grants and equity.

African innovations funded by the Africa Prize

African innovators network creating a sustainable society for all

The Academy’s network of African entrepreneurs, researchers and institutions work across different sectors improving sustainability, generating employment and progressing technology. The guide below outlines the four areas where African innovations are making a difference to their communities.

Read our guide on sustainable innovation in Africa

Support, funding and opportunities for African entrepreneurs

The Africa Prize offers a unique benefits package for up to 16 shortlisted participants to help accelerate their business including:

• Access to business and technical expertise and sector specific engineering mentoring.
• Bespoke press coverage and communications support.
• Eight month tailored training programme.
• Access to the Academy’s network of high profile engineers and business experts in the UK and Africa.
• The opportunity for finalists to present their innovation to a judging panel at the Africa Prize showcase event.
• Prize money of up to £25,000.

Applications are open for the 2025 Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation

All applications must be submitted via the online grants system. Applicants should ensure they read the guidance notes as well as the FAQ and eligibility pages before submitting their application.

To apply for the Africa Prize you must first register an account on our Grant Management System (GMS) which you will be prompted to do. Once in GMS, please select ‘Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation 2024/2025 to start your application.

The Africa Prize is looking for engineers and entrepreneurs who have developed, or are in the process of developing, a new technological innovation. Applicants should have the ambition to take a leading role in creating a new business to commercialise this innovation. Innovations must aim to promote the welfare and economic development of a country or countries in sub–Saharan Africa and be designed to address a development need or specific challenge facing that country.

To find out more, explore our past awardees, register for the final event and sign up to our newsletter.

What kind of innovations does the Africa Prize accept?

Entrepreneurs are invited to apply with innovations from any engineering discipline that can provide scalable solutions to local challenges.

Applicants should be in the early stages of commercialising an engineering innovation that:

• is accompanied by an ambitious but realistic business plan that has strong commercial viability
• has strong potential to be replicated and scaled up
• will bring social and/or environmental benefits to a country or countries in sub-Saharan Africa
• is based in, and will benefit, a country in sub-Saharan Africa.

The innovation can be any new product, technology or service, based on research in any field of engineering, including:

• agricultural technology
• biotechnology
• chemical engineering
• civil engineering
• computer science
• design engineering
• electrical and electronic engineering
• materials science
• mechanical engineering
• medical engineering.

If you have questions about whether your innovation would be considered as engineering, please contact the Africa Prize team to discuss your application at africaprize@raeng.org.uk

For more information, have a look at the Africa Prize interactive tool which showcases all current and previous shortlisted innovations.

We do not accept:

• innovations that are still at idea stage
• innovations that are designed for military purposes or purely for economic gain.