David Kinzuzi receives a dummy check at the closing of YouthConektTwo young Africans from Nigeria walked away with a total $10,000 prizes for emerging among the best innovators at the just concluded YouthConnekt Africa summit in Rwanda’s capital Kigali.
Russell Oasah and Charles Umeh(Digital Inclusion award) from Nigeria walked away with 50% ($10,000) of the 4 winners of this year’s innovation projects, out of 18 competitive final projects submitted.
Rwanda’s David Kinzuzi was also among the winners and saw his innovative ‘My Green Home Project’ win $5000, while Kenya’s Emma Stella Gaku was awarded for her project that addresses rural dairy products management through mobile cooling for milk products for rural Kenyans.
Kinzuzi’s ‘My Green Home Project’ – was an idea co-worked on with his colleague Rosette Umuhoza. Both are students from Kigali-based Kepler University.
The youth pitch their projects at YouthConnekt
The award is expected to add on Kinzuzi’s dream of implementing the goal of creating green cities – starting with managing the Nduba landfill, and venture upcountry and other East African countries.
This year’s second YouthConnekt Africa summit attracted over 2500 youth innovative minds from across the continent.
The competitors came from Rwanda, Kenya, Mozambique, Angola and Nigeria.
“If you have good ideas we will be looking for you. We don’t take the credit for this great work but you do take credit….Everything is possible and as youth we have confidence that you will be the center of transformation,” Rwanda’s Minister of Youth, Rosemary Mbabazi said at the closing ceremony.
