Five African student-led teams have been named among the world’s top 35 finalists in The Earth Prize 2026, a global environmental competition for young innovators aged 13 to 19 that has awarded more than $500,000 to climate-focused projects since its launch.
The selected African teams span Nigeria, Kenya, Zambia and Egypt and were recognised for solutions ranging from low-cost emissions filters and biodegradable sanitary products to AI-driven climate prediction models and robotics for land restoration. The recognition places them within a wider cohort drawn from seven global regions, as the competition highlights youth-led responses to environmental and climate challenges.
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Among the African finalists is BookBank Africa from Nigeria, which is developing a digital system to redistribute unused textbooks through school-based book hubs. Another Nigerian team, PantiPads, is producing biodegradable sanitary pads made from agricultural waste, aimed at reducing plastic pollution while improving access to affordable menstrual products.
In Zambia, the PUPE Climate Model team is working on a forecasting system designed to improve early warnings for extreme weather events, a capability that could be increasingly relevant as climate variability intensifies across southern Africa.
From Kenya, the HewaSafi Innovators are developing a low-cost vehicle exhaust filter using agricultural waste and algae to reduce emissions in urban transport systems, while Egypt’s Terraskipper team is designing a robot inspired by mudskippers to monitor soil conditions and support reforestation in degraded landscapes.
Together, the projects reflect a growing focus on combining environmental science with low-cost engineering and digital tools in addressing local development challenges.
The Earth Prize, organised by the Geneva-based Earth Foundation, has expanded rapidly since its inception in 2021, reaching more than 21,000 students across 169 countries and territories. According to the organisers, the programme is structured as an incubator, offering mentorship, technical support and funding to help early-stage ideas move towards real-world application.
The 35 shortlisted teams were selected from a larger global pool and represent innovations spanning climate adaptation, waste management, biodiversity protection and sustainable materials.
According to the foundation, the 2026 submissions included systems for fog-based water harvesting, ocean-cleaning robotics and AI-supported recycling technologies, reflecting a widening use of digital tools in environmental problem-solving.
The inclusion of five African teams comes at a time when governments across the continent are increasingly seeking scalable, low-cost climate adaptation solutions amid tightening fiscal space and rising exposure to climate shocks.
According to the African Development Bank, climate-related losses in Africa are projected to rise significantly in the coming decades, with agriculture, water systems and urban infrastructure among the most affected sectors.
In this context, youth-led innovations are increasingly viewed as part of a broader pipeline of technical and entrepreneurial capacity that could support national climate strategies, particularly where public research and development budgets remain constrained. However, translating early-stage prototypes into deployable systems will depend on access to investment, institutional support and integration into existing policy and market frameworks.
The next phase of The Earth Prize 2026 will see seven regional winners announced in May, each receiving additional funding to scale their projects, followed by a global winner selected later in the month.
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