Royal Academy opens 2027 Africa Prize applications in Ivory Coast

The Royal Academy of Engineering has launched the 2027 Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation with a special call to engineers and innovators in Côte d’Ivoire. The competition offers £85,000 in prize money, eight months of commercial support and a pathway to scale engineering solutions across sub-Saharan Africa.

Why it matters: - The Africa Prize is one of the continent’s most visible engineering innovation awards. - The program is designed to help early-stage ventures turn technical ideas into market-ready businesses. - The prize targets solutions with social or environmental impact across sub-Saharan Africa. - The 2027 winner pool will share £85,000 in cash awards.

What happened: - The Royal Academy of Engineering launched applications for the 2027 Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation on July 13, 2026. - The academy made a special call to engineers and innovators in Côte d’Ivoire. - The prize is partly funded by the UK Department for Science, Innovation and Technology. - Applicants can submit through the competition site.

The details: - The main prize is £50,000. - Three finalists will receive £10,000 each. - The One-to-Watch award carries an additional £5,000. - Sixteen candidates are shortlisted each year. - Selected participants join an eight-month commercialisation program. - The program includes training in financial management, market analysis and other business basics. - Participants also get mentoring from experts in business, technology, engineering and communications. - The academy says the program now supports more than 180 businesses in 24 countries. - Alumni have collectively raised more than $34 million in grants and third-party equity funding. - Eligible applicants must be individuals or teams based in sub-Saharan Africa. - The lead applicant must be 18 or older, fluent in English, and a citizen and resident of a sub-Saharan African country. - Projects must be at an early stage of commercialization and backed by a credible business plan. - Hardware entries must include a working prototype and proof of customer interest. - Software or app entries must show a functional minimum viable product and measurable user traction. - Applicants must also submit a recommendation letter, a technical diagram and an image of the innovation. - Applications for Cycle 13 open July 13 and close September 8. - The process uses two application stages.

Between the lines: - The academy is trying to widen awareness in parts of Africa where the prize is less established. - Meredith Ettridge, associate director of international at the Royal Academy of Engineering, said the network is growing and the academy wants to build new connections in regions where the prize has yet to gain ground. - The early-stage requirements signal that the prize is aimed at ventures that are close to commercialization, not concept-stage ideas. - The emphasis on business support suggests the academy is focusing on scaling as much as invention. - A former Côte d’Ivoire finalist, Rory Assandey of La Ruche Health, shows the kind of digital-health product the prize can elevate. - La Ruche Health’s Kiko AI agent provides first-contact triage through WhatsApp and routes patients to the right specialists on the company’s telemedicine platform. - The system also creates digital records through a cloud electronic medical-record platform that handles scheduling, payments and practitioner payouts. - La Ruche Health said it handled more than 5,000 teleconsultations in 2025. - La Ruche Health said 71% of general-medicine consultations happened the same day and 52% of specialist visits took place within 48 hours. - La Ruche Health won the 2025 Prix Galien Africa Award for Innovation in Digital Healthcare.

What's next: - Shortlisted applicants will go on to the eight-month commercialization program. - The 2027 winners will be selected after that program ends. - Innovators interested in the 2027 cohort must apply by September 8.

The bottom line: - The Africa Prize is using cash, mentorship and market support to push promising engineering startups toward scale, with Côte d’Ivoire singled out in the latest recruitment push.