Innovation prize rewards African inventors

Scidev.Net : A new award, worth $100 000, will be given to African innovators and inventors who design products that could further the continent’s economic transformation, writes Aregu Balleh for SciDev.Net. The Innovation Prize for Africa —a joint initiative of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and the African Innovation Foundation —will be awarded for the first time in February 2012 to the best innovators in three areas: information and communication technology, green technologies, and health and food security. “The main objective of the initiative is to recognize ordinary Africans who have ideas that can be commercialized—ideas that can make a difference in the lives of people,” said Aida Opoku-Mensah of UNECA.