Steel Bridge
Africa Prize selects 2021 shortlist of entrepreneurial innovators shaping the continent
This year’s Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation shortlist includes the creators of a low-cost ventilator powered by water instead of electricity, a digital financial services solution that audits users based on their online social profiles, and sustainable packaging developed from banana stems to help battle plastic pollution and deforestation.
The Africa Prize, run every year by the UK’s Royal Academy of Engineering, awards crucial commercialisation support to ambitious African innovators who are transforming their communities through scalable engineering solutions. The 2021 shortlist represents nine countries including, for the first time, Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, Ethiopia and the Gambia. Six of the 16-strong shortlist are female innovators.
The programme has a track record of identifying engineering entrepreneurs with significant potential, many of whom have gone on to achieve greater commercial success and social impact.
AAAM and Afreximbank sign MoU to drive Automotive Investment in Africa
The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and the African Association of Automotive Manufacturers (AAAM) have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the financing and promotion of the automotive industry in Africa.
Prof. Benedict Oramah, President of Afreximbank and Mike Whitfield, President of AAAM and Managing Director of Nissan Africa, signed the MoU in early February, formalizing the basis for a partnership aimed at boosting regional automotive value chains and financing for the automotive industry while supporting the development of enabling policies, technical assistance, and capacity building initiatives.
Prof. Benedict Oramah, President of Afreximbank said that “the strategic partnership with AAAM will facilitate the implementation of the Bank’s Automotive programme which aims to catalyze the development of the automotive industry in Africa as the continent commences trade under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).”
WHO signs grant agreement with Canada on maintaining essential health services in the context of COVID-19
The World Health Organization and Canada signed an agreement to ensure functional health services in the context of COVID-19 in Ethiopia. Through this agreement, Canada will provide WHO a grant amounting to 9.9 million Canadian dollars to strengthen the primary health care capacity to deliver essential health services, particularly for women, girls and vulnerable populations, while maintaining an effective response to COVID-19 to avoid additional preventable sickness and death among the Ethiopian population.
The WHO Representative to Ethiopia, Dr. Boureima Hama Sambo, thanked Canada for the available funding to support continuity of essential health services. He said, “The grant will not only strengthen the provision of quality, gender-responsive essential health services at primary care level but also boost health system resilience by building the capacity of regional and city health authorities to deal with current and future crises.”
This grant will benefit approximately 6.5 million Ethiopians in need, of which 50% are expected to be women. The remaining population of Ethiopia are indirect beneficiaries, benefiting from the efforts to strengthen both the federal and regional health systems, with a focus on sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) services.
