NIGERIA YUSUF BILESANMI'S SHIVENT WINS AFRICA PRIZE "ONE TO WATCH" AWARD

At the Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation final event earlier this month, Nigerian innovator Yusuf Bilesanmi was voted the "One To Watch" by the audience during the event.

Yusuf was one of the 12 innovators who pitched their innovations to a live audience who voted his - ShiVent as one that showed promise and potential for impact. He also received a £5,000 prize.

ShiVent is a low-cost, non-electric and non-invasive ventilator for patients with respiratory difficulties, available at a fraction of the cost of mechanical ventilators. It's simple design enables it to be operated by unspecialised healthcare workers.

ShiVent is designed for under-resourced clinics with unreliable electricity supply and limited access to specialist knowledge.

ShiVent has completed functionality testing at the National Centre for Sports and Exercise and Medicine at Loughborough University and Leicester Royal Infirmary Hospital. It has also undergone preliminary clinical feasibility tests at NIHR Leicester Biomedical Research Centre, Glenfield Hospital, renowned for coronary and respiratory diseases. The results demonstrate that the device is indeed functional and meets CPAP requirements set by the Medicines and Health Regulatory Agency in the United Kingdom.

Nigeria's Faith Adesemowo of Social Lender was a runner up at the finale and she went home with 10,000.