Kenyan innovator Elly Savatia has been awarded the 2025 Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation for his groundbreaking app, Terp 360. The AI-powered tool translates real-time speech into sign language using 3D avatars.
The innovation addresses a crucial need for accessibility, aiding individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing in essential settings like schools, workplaces, and public services.
Savatia’s prize includes a grant of £50,000 (approximately Ksh. 8.6 million) to help scale the innovation, making it the continent’s most esteemed engineering award.
“I’m totally grateful for this and it is a testament to the innovative assistive technology work that is coming from Africa,” Elly Savatia stated upon receiving the award.
Terp 360 utilizes a dataset of over 2,300 locally recorded signs to ensure the avatars’ translations are relevant and effective for local communities.
Savatia’s team, operating under the name Signvrse, plans to expand its presence across the education, corporate, and healthcare markets, specifically targeting institutions that serve large hearing-impaired populations.
The award ceremony, hosted for the first time in Francophone Africa in Dakar, Senegal, also recognized other notable innovators.
Fellow Kenyan engineer Carol Ofafa was among the 2025 Africa Prize finalists for her startup, E-Safiri. This company builds solar-powered charging and battery-swapping hubs for electric bicycles and motorbikes. The system supports the growing e-mobility sector by reducing vehicle downtime and also feeds surplus solar power back to nearby households.
Innovators from Uganda and Ghana were also recognized as finalists, each receiving a £10,000 grant for their projects focused on healthcare and sustainable agriculture. Mozambique’s Rui Bauhofer won the “One to Watch” prize, worth £5,000, for developing biodegradable plates made from maize husks.
Since its inception in 2014, the Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation has supported over 160 entrepreneurs across 20 African countries, helping transform early-stage technological ideas into scalable businesses.