It was a USAID-Centre for Development Research (CDR) funded initiative that aimed to bridge a critical gap between proof-of-concept and sustainable scaling among university-based innovations. This project examined and strengthed the innovation support ecosystem within and around universities in Africa between 2019-2022. The gap analysis identified several persistent bottlenecks: fragmented innovation support services that forced innovators to navigate multiple disconnected units; limited understanding of market dynamics and user needs among academic innovators; inadequate pathways for student and faculty innovators to transition from projects to sustainable ventures; and weak connections between university innovation ecosystems and broader national and regional innovation systems.

The project later developed and tested several interventions to address these challenges: an integrated innovation support model that provided seamless access to technical mentoring, business coaching, prototyping facilities, and funding navigation; market immersion programs that placed academic innovators in real-world contexts to understand user needs and market opportunities; innovation fellowship programs that supported promising innovators through the critical transition from academic projects to market-ready ventures; and ecosystem mapping and connection activities that strengthened links between universities, industry, government, and investment communities.

A key innovation was the development of scaling readiness assessment tools that helped innovators and support providers systematically evaluate multiple dimensions of scaling potential including technical maturity, team capacity, market understanding, business model viability, and ecosystem support. These tools enabled more strategic allocation of support resources and helped innovators develop realistic scaling roadmaps. The project also worked on institutionalizing innovation support within university structures, developing policy frameworks, resource allocation mechanisms, and incentive systems that recognized and rewarded innovation activities.

The initiative spanned multiple sectors including health, energy, agriculture, and water, allowing for cross-sector learning about common scaling challenges and sector-specific adaptations. Case studies documented successful scaling journeys, analyzing critical success factors and pivot points where strategic interventions made the difference between stagnation and growth. The project produced practical guides for university innovation managers, templates for innovation support agreements, and frameworks for measuring innovation ecosystem maturity. 

 

Below is the list of innovation projects that were support by this mechanism:

1)        Yunga project

2)        PAPS AI project 

3)        Ka -Wallet project

4)        Shishi Oxylife Oxygen splitters

5)        Pedal Operated Maize Cleaner

6)        Digitalized Eco Mobile Water Purifier

Individual innovation projects summaries

  • Yunga project

Yunga is a local rescue digital network for connected neighbors in the community that bridges the communication gap and enhances community policing. Yunga devices are installed and connected in households and by the tap of a button from a Yunga device, all neighbors and police (law enforcement agencies) are notified and called to one’s rescue instantly in case of a security attack or any other emergency.  The name and address of the community member under attack are displayed on all Yunga devices on the connected network. Yunga is using technology to leverage the African culture of sharing and community trust to provide security at a low cost with a high rescue response time.

  • PAPS AI project

PAPS AI is a digital health platform consisting of four entities: 1) A low-cost digital microscope slide scanner to produce quick, reliable, and high-resolution cervical cell images from pap-smear slides that can be analyzed automatically, 2) Cervical cancer risk factors evaluation engine to automatically assess the likelihood of a cervical cancer diagnosis given the risk factors, 3) An automated pap-smear analysis tool for diagnosis and classification of cervical cancer from pap-smear images and 4) an AI-empowered cervical cancer patients management system platform for patient’s records, picture achieve and telemedicine support connected to cytopathologists from different cancer screening units located in different areas. 

  • Ka -Wallet project

Students lacked a safer, secure and convenient means of receiving and storing their pocket money while at school thus the Ka-Wallet innovation; extending mobile money services to students in boarding schools. This is because it is highly restricted for them to possess mobile phones while at school and therefore, they hardly access mobile money services. Kawallet a mobile application that enables students and their parents to make use of mobile money services is a replication of mobile money and it enables students to save, receive, deposit, and withdraw money safely with the aid of a key holder and a smartphone (owned by the Ka-Wallet agent).  This innovation provides safety for the student’s money while at school and provides parents with a convenient way in which they can send money to their children while at school. 

  • Shishi Oxylife Oxygen splitters

Is an oxygen splitter assembled in Uganda and can be attached to the available oxygen sources ie cylinders or concentrators already existing in hospitals to increase the capacity to supply up to 5 babies oxygen at the same time using the one oxygen source. The locally designed and assembled units make oxygen splitters more affordable while addressing context-specific needs and providing employment to locally trained professionals. 

  • Pedal Operated Maize Cleaner (POM-Cleaner)

The PoM-Cleaner was developed and locally manufactured by Badaye Technologies Ltd, a pedal-driven cleaner that uses rotary motion to separate grains from foreign matter and broken seeds. The innovation has been designed to effectively clean grains than the sieve technology since it ensures continuous movement of the maize due to gravity and centrifugal forces. The cleaner consists of two cleaning sieves to eliminate impurities larger and smaller than the maize grains with a total cleaning efficiency of 83.11 %, separation loss of 8.17%, cleaning rate of 722 kg/hr, and low seed damage of 2%. 

  • Digitalized Eco Mobile Water Purifier;

a refined system project using locally available materials such as coconut shells, animal bones, and cassava peelings, (activated carbon), local sand, and ultraviolet light providing clean, safe, and pure water free from chemicals and other contaminants to the general public especially in remote areas where water scarcity and limited access to clean, safe drinking water is an alarming call to their welfare.

Categories: RANProject, RanProject_Innovation