Praize Mwanza, a fifth-year Mechatronics Engineering student and President of the CBO Robotics Club at Copperbelt University, exemplifies the aspiration for innovation within the Mukuba UniPod. He is the mastermind behind RCC Mafishi, an electric car built by him and 13 other robotics students. “Our main customer was the student population. We wanted to make life easier, ditch the buses, and cruise around in style (and silence!)". 

Drawing inspiration from Uganda's achievements in e-mobility, Praize remarks, "In 2011, a student team designed an electric car and scaled up to become a major company named Kiira Motors. The company is now projected to employ over 100,000 workers. That's the future we're striving for, and with UNDP’s timbuktoo assistance, we can attain it." 

One of the technologies housed in the Mukuba UniPod is an Electric Vehicle (EV) Training Kit which provides innovators like Mwanza a great opportunity to learn the technology behind the design of efficient EV batteries and powertrains. However, the UniPod goes beyond furnishing knowledge on EVs.  It also provides Praize and others assistance in commercializing their concept, courtesy of the Technology Transfer Office situated within the UniPod.

Innovating for sustainability

Mervis Ngosa’s recollection of how she started her innovation dates back to her hometown: “I come from Samfya originally and then moved to live in Mansa. We used charcoal and firewood as our main sources of energy. I witnessed so many disastrous accidents associated with these energy sources that I started thinking and investigating ways of using alternative sources of energy”. Through her research, she uncovered copper slag as a viable alternative.

Her renewable energy-saving stove, the Slag stove, aims to reduce household energy costs while promoting sustainability in local communities. "My goal is to reduce the high levels of deforestation inevitably mitigating climate change effects that have heavily affected our country through harsh weather conditions such as droughts,” Mervis explains. Mervis plans to conduct field trials and testing in rural and urban areas to maximize the impact of her innovation on communities.

For Mervis and Praize, the new Mukuba UniPod represents an invaluable opportunity to turn their entrepreneurial dreams into reality. With access to state-of-the-art equipment that enables ideas to be turned into functional prototypes, industry-relevant innovation programs, access to research and development mentorship leveraging the rigor from academia, and networking opportunities, they are poised to test solutions and scale their ideas into market - ready products. Moreover, the UniPod's holistic approach to entrepreneurship support, from ideation to commercialization, ensures that Mervis, Praize and others receive the guidance and resources they need at every step of their innovation and market-entry journey.