Seven Africa Prize and LIF alumni have been featured in the Forbes 100 Innovations, Inventions & Icons from Africa. For the hundredth issue, Forbes Africa decided to curate a list celebrating ideas, inventions, and influential role models that have spelt Africa’s growth over the last decade. Today we speak to Africa Prize alumni Paul Matovu and Brian Turyabagye about their business impact.
Paul Matovu – The Vertical Farm
Can you briefly describe your innovation ?
The Vertical Farm stacks shelves of soil beds into tiers to enable urban households to sustainably and profitably grow their own food. It is both water-efficient and organic. From 2015 to 2018, Vertical and Micro Gardening (VMG) only had one version dubbed Vertical Farm 1.0. Since January 2019, 3 new models of the Vertical Farm have been designed to meet different user needs, following comprehensive market and ideation sessions, new models have been developed for the Premium and the Wall-Leaning Models.
What impact has your innovation had so far in your country or abroad?
The Vertical Farm, if well managed has capacity to earn additional income $355 annually which almost doubles the annual income of the household, as well as providing home-based employment. To date, VMG has installed Vertical Farms in more than 400 locations across Uganda. Further, over 1500 families are benefiting from our agricultural extension services. Socially, VMG is directly employing 11 youths and working with 20 people locals on either on contractual or casual arrangements.
What one tip for success would you give to your fellow innovators?
I advise my fellow innovators to always consider solving a problem in society. This is a tested route to innovation success. At VMG, we always engage existing and potential customers as well as policy makers in the process of product development. This helps to ensure both product-market fit and policy appropriateness of the innovations. It also keeps us aware of trends and market shifts.
Turyabagye Brian – MamaOpe
Can you briefly describe your innovation?
MamaOpe Medicals is a device and software company based in Uganda that develops innovative solutions to improve access to quality health care for people in low resource settings. MamaOpe is a non-invasive device designed to assist health practitioners in detection of pneumonia in low resource settings using patient vitals.
What impact has your innovation had so far in your country or abroad?
At the moment, our direct impact is still being assessed and can’t easily be quantified since we are still going through the regulatory path ahead of the roll out stage. Our indirect impact has mainly been a meaningful contribution to the health sector by de-risking the generic models of innovation within Uganda. This has been in the form of generating positive sector level externalities such as informing the pathways to innovation, inspiring, and instructing others’ efforts (especially young innovators) to build robust innovations with insights from our experience.
What one tip for success would you give to your fellow innovators?
Identify and strive to excel at the tasks that are central to your innovation.
Find out more by visiting The Vertical Farm and MamaOpe.