Five youth-led organisations win 2025 African Climate Innovation Challenge
Five youth in climate change initiative have won the 2025 African Climate Innovation Challenge at the ACIC Startup Pitch event held in Kampala, Uganda last Saturday.
The winners of the 2025 ACIC challenge who went home a cheque of $10,000.00 each were, Fatima E Khou, the Chief Executive Officer of Jafife, a company that deploys smart solar dryers to extend food shelf life, digitise supply chains, and connect farmers with processors.
Munyasa Hellen, a Ugandan and CEO of Helton Traders Limited, a social enterprise that converts post-consumer pet waste into affordable, high-quality polyester sewing threads.
Also, Gbadamassi Aymane Adiho from Togo, the CEO of Rôbalôtô, a company which creates a circular waste system with smart bins, school clubs, and local recycling into solar bags. The solution lowers plastic emissions, prevents toxic burning, empowers youth, and fosters climate-conscious communities.
The rest were, Oliver Omondi from Kenya and the Founder of Zuripacks, an organisation which produces sustainable, plastic-free packaging alternatives that cut upstream emissions and reduce downstream pollution risks for climate-vulnerable cities. Phebe Ilesanmi, a Nigerian and Co-Founder of Trashcoin, an organisation that gamifies recycling by rewarding users with digital tokens for collected plastic waste.
The competition which rallied the passion and ingenuity of visionary youth working on innovative green businesses on the continent saw four other finalists from Ghana, Madagascar, Sierra Leone and Cameroon.
The ACIC organised by the Green Africa Youth Organisation (GAYO), aimed to drive positive environmental and social impact within communities across Africa to address issues of climate change.
It also focuses on nurturing and accelerating innovative solutions to sustainability challenges.
Address world challenge
Speaking at the event, the ACIC Programmes Manager at GAYO, Paul Dankwa said, the challenge aimed at empowering young Africans to scale their real-world solutions to address global problems.
He explained that although Africa accounted for one-fifth of world’s population, it currently receives only three per cent of global energy investment.
“Although Africa accounts for one-fifth of the global population, the region currently attracts only three per cent of global energy investment; by 2030, this needs to double,” he said.
With this in mind, Mr Dankwa said, the ACIC was supporting solutions through training and financing to nurture a generation of leaders who will make a lasting impact on our environment.
“ACIC celebrates innovation and offers resources, mentorship, and recognition of the most outstanding ideas. As the world looks to the youth for innovative solutions, this event is set to continue playing a pivotal role in unlocking the transformative potential of the next generation of African leaders,” he said.
Response to finance gaps
In responding to climate financing gaps, Mr Dankwa said, the implementers of the ACIC announced the winners of this year’s competition, strengthening the continent’s reputation as a hotbed of youth innovation.
He added that the ACIC would continue to empower and support young African changemakers to tackle the climate crisis through entrepreneurship and innovation.
“The competition will provide financial backing, a tailor-made business incubation curriculum, and peer-to-peer mentorship to the winning startups to scale and accelerate their solutions,” Mr Dankwa said.