African Entrepreneurs Are Changing The World, 5 Companies To Follow
From fusing live neurons from mice with silicon chips to GPS headware to help the blind and electric “Mellowcabs”, African entrepreneurs are changing the world.
It is said that necessity is the mother of invention. True to that saying, the many needs in Africa have led to creativity and world leading innovations, but publicity for African entrepreneurs can be a struggle. Some of the inventions created in Africa have since spread to the rest of the world.
Here are five such great innovations and African entrepreneurs you should follow.
Originating from South Africa and developed by Neil du Preez, Mellowcabs are electric pedicabs featuring cutting edge technology and offering versatility in transport. These three wheelers act as a quick form of convenient and affordable public transport in urban areas. They are primarily intended for short trips within a three mile radius. Each pedicab can travel for more than a hundred kilometers daily. The technology they use includes Hydrogen fuel cells, regenerative braking and an on-board tablet computer that is also fully integrated with social media.
This is an innovation from Egypt created by Haitham Desoky, an Egyptian engineer. With his innovation, you can turn any non-conductive surface such as wood and glass into a touch sensitive surface. There is a limitation to the thickness of the surface though. The ViViFi Touch Sticker, which is transparent, is placed on the back or underside of a surface and works by reading electrostatic energy as you interact with the surface. After reading the movement and position of the contact, the sticker sends signals via Wi-Fi to a main controller which then carries out set actions such as switching lights on and off and operating medical devices.
Mubser is another Egyptian invention, created by Khaled Shady, a 22 year old university student. It is a tool designed to help visually impaired people navigate around easily. It has two components; a wearable belt and a Bluetooth connected headset. The belt is fitted with a 3D depth camera that captures and interprets data which is then quickly relayed to the individual via the Bluetooth headset. With Mubser, a person can easily navigate around obstacles such as chairs and also stay on a clear path.
KoniKu Kore founder Osh Agabi
Created by Osh Agabi from Nigeria, Koniku Kore is a sensory device designed to detect not only explosives but also cancerous cells in humans. Koniku Kore is billed as the world’s first neurotechnology device. It is the first to fuse live neurons from mice stem cells into a silicon chip. Describing the concept behind his device in an interview with CNN Agabi said;
“In the same way that a dog is able to detect if someone has prostate cancer, the real question we as is ‘how does a dog do it?’ We can clone that process in our chip, so yes in the same way that a dog can detect diseases or explosives at an airport, it’s a sensory system that is essentially what we create in our chip.”
Invented by 26 year old Arthur Zang from Cameroon, the Cardiopad is medical examination tablet designed to be used in remote places. Using the Cardiopad, heart examinations such as the electrocardiogram (ECG) are performed and the results are sent wirelessly to specialists who then interpret and provide feedback. With this invention, people with no access to specialized high-tech medical equipment for examinations can get tested easily and nearer their homes.
These are just some of the great innovations developed by African entrepreneurs. Stay tuned to Citizen Truth for more information on the ways Africa is changing the world.
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