A technologist in the Department of pharmaceutical and Medicinal Chemistry, University of Nigeria Nsukka, Justus Nwaoga has emerged one of the top ten innovators in Africa at the 2nd edition of the “Innovation Prize for Africa” held in South Africa recently. Nwaoga’s innovation was the only one pioneered by a Nigerian which made the top ten out of a total of 903 applications from 45 countries in Africa.
Nwaoga discovered how to use a local weed, Mimosa pudica, (locally known as touch and die) to generate renewable energy. “I observed that the plant’s leaves opened at sunrise and folded at sunset, I started searching for the compound responsible for this and found ‘black silicon’ which can be used to power solar panel. It is natural”, he said.
He explained that solar cells constructed with the weed extracts and exposed to sunlight were found to accumulate solar energy which was transformed to electrical energy. The stored electrical energy, according to him could be subsequently developed for various domestic, military and industrial appliances including solar rechargeable lantern.
Nwaoga, who was recently granted the patent right of the innovation by the Federal Ministry of Trade and Investment, said that he was working towards further development of the product into commercial quantity.
It will be recalled that the pharmacist had, in 2004/2005, developed a portable kit used to discover fake and substandard injection drugs. The kit uses chemicals instead of UV/visible spectrophotometer, a more expensive instrument for spot test, to isolate and quantify main ingredients of gentamicin injection and other commonly administered injections.
The Innovation Prize for Africa is an award founded by the African Innovation Foundation and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. It mobilises African innovators and entrepreneurs by providing a total of $150 000 to winners who deliver market-oriented solutions for African-led development. The prize encourages private equity investors, government and development leaders to invest across sectors and build a climate that fuels Africa’s economic growth.
