COVID-19 INNOVATIONS ACROSS AFRICA
Over the last few months, we have been living a new reality imposed on us by the coronavirus. The new virus has literally shut-down almost every country on earth. Unlike recent epidemics, the richer countries have been just as paralyzed as poorer ones. This has left African countries to fend for themselves.
This challenge was met by African innovation at various levels. We’ve already covered the OXYNNET oxygen delivery system invented by Himmore Medical in Cameroon.
Another invention called “Dr. Car” measures vital signs such as blood pressure and temperature. Invented by students from Ecole Superieure Polytechnique (ESP) in Dakar, Senegal, the robot’s main goal is to prevent patient-doctor contamination. The robot can be remotely controlled via an app, communicate with a patient in 4 languages and carry medicines. The university sees a future where this robot can be mass-produced and commercialized.
On the other side of the continent, President Rajoelina of Magasdacar made news when he publicly sipped from a bottle of CVO-Organics which he claimed is a cure for COVID-19. The drink is made from a medicinal plant called Artemisia which is well recognized for curing malaria (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artemisia_(genus)). On its website, Tambavy-Tisane Bio, the company that created the CVO-Organics shows a count of patient who have recovered from COVID using the medicinal drink. At the time of this writing, the count is at 134. They also back their product with a full 100% money back guaranty within 2 weeks.
The innovations covered so far have focused on curing the COVID-19 virus. The majority of the innovations we have seen were more on the preventing side. One such innovation is the touch-less hand-washing machine. In a continent where electricity is not ubiquitous, innovators needed to create systems that could leverage a combination of human action and gravity while minimizing any risk of contamination.
One such system was designed and built by Kumasi Technical University in Ghana. The system gives users 2 pedals which they can operate with their feet. One pedal dispenses soap and the second opens the water tap allowing it to flow freely pulled by gravity. Each user is therefore is able to wash their hands and walk away without touching anything with their hands thus reducing risks of cross-contamination.
The simplicity and effectiveness of this type of hand-washing station has made it a prime preventive tool across multiple African countries. For example, Governor Udom Gabriel Emmanuel or Akwa Ibom State in Nigeria has tasked Akwa Ibom State Roads & Other Infrastructure Maintenance Agency (AKROIMA) to build similar machines designed by Mr. Aniekan Onomkpöinam.
The vibrant African fashion industry joined the fight with fashionable face masks. Face masks have seen a broad adoption as a tool to slow down the spread of the virus. In Africa, this has been accepted as a new fashion accessory by coupling its medical benefits with style. The fashion blog fashionbombdaily.com featured an article with African-style face masks that take advantage of patterned fabrics to create face masks that coordinates with modern African dresses and head scarf.
Other examples of innovations include virtual learning through radio, TV and online for schools as well as new research in traditional medicine. We hope that our innovators build on this momentum to continue innovating post covonavirus.