Niger-based Likita Care wins 2026 Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation

Niger-based medical monitoring startup Likita Care has won the 2026 Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation, taking home GBP50,000 (US$67,000).

Delivered by the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Africa Prize is the continent’s biggest engineering prize. Finalists were selected from a cohort of 16 entrepreneurs who completed an eight-month training and mentoring programme.

Founded by Mamane Kabirou Ousseini, the first engineer from Niger to participate in and win the prize, Likita Care builds locally manufactured monitoring devices that can be maintained and repaired in Niger, addressing the frequent breakdown of imported equipment in resource-limited hospitals.

The platform combines connected hardware, clinical software and an AI module that interprets vital signs in real time, supporting patient, cardiac and prenatal monitoring. More than 70 units have been deployed across five medical centres in Niger.

“Winning the Africa Prize is a dream come true,” said Ousseini. The startup will use the funding to commercialise in Niger and prepare for expansion into neighbouring West African markets.

Three runners-up each received GBP10,000 (US$13,500 – South Africa’s Pee-Cycling, a urine-to-fertiliser recovery system; Kenya’s MoyoECG, a portable heart monitor; and Kenya’s Renal Roads, a mobile dialysis clinic. Ghana’s Fusion Wind Turbine won the GBP5,000 (US$6,500) One-to-Watch Award.

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