New innovations in sustainability and the circular economy are underway as Wege Prize 2025 narrows down the competition’s unprecedented pool of 90 initial teams from 31 countries down to 30 teams for its second phase. As in past years, the student-teams include significant representation from Africa, reflecting the deep interest and motivations for students there.

Hosted annually by Ferris State University’s Kendall College of Art and Design in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Wege Prize engages five-person multidisciplinary teams of university students worldwide, who work with expert judges from diverse fields to advance their big ideas. During the contest’s second phase, the teams’ solutions to pressing problems are further developed and refined into real-world uses, with the aim of winning a spot in Wege Prize’s cash-prize pool of $65,000.

This year, 27 of the 30 Phase Two teams include students from African institutions, with a resounding majority from Rwanda, along with others from Nigeria, Ghana, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Kenya, Sierra Leone and Zimbabwe. As Africa faces significant economic challenges, Wege Prize’s student-participants are poised as game-changers for the region through their sustainable solutions to “wicked problems” – pollution, hunger, waste and more – that support a circular economy.

Emerging African Leaders Highlight Regional Challenges

Wege Prize core judge Colin Webster, a U.K.-based education manager with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation that supports the transition to a circular economy, says Africa has an opportunity to leapfrog some of the world’s financial investments in traditional, linear economic systems.

“Student-teams from Rwanda have been well-educated in the circular economy, and they come across as highly motivated, creative thinkers,” Webster said. “Their project ideas show a real awareness and understanding of rural issues and the power of the planet to provide solutions to problems that artificial chemicals have failed to address.”

Webster adds that Kigali, Rwanda, hosted the 2022 World Circular Economy Forum, and the nation also created the National Circular Economy Action Plan – more motivation for students to gravitate to Wege Prize. “We’re seeing particular focus on the biocycle, both in terms of Wege Prize entries, for Africa in particular and Rwanda in general, and in the circular economy space as a whole,” he said.

Student Innovations for Nature and Agriculture

Among the ideas proposed by Africa-based teams are concepts that address natural resources, plastics, agricultural waste and more, including:

• Addressing water scarcity in agriculture with a biodegradable hydrogel from agro-wastes.
• Developing construction material alternatives from existing plastic waste.
• Reducing second-hand clothing imports in Africa by promoting locally reprocessed garments.
• Using corn waste and orange peels to formulate eco-friendly mosquito repellents.

Gayle DeBruyn, IIDA, LEED AP, sustainability officer at KCAD and an organizer of Wege Prize, says that during the past few years, many ideas from Wege Prize teams in Africa have leveraged agricultural and organic waste, such as manure and crop residue, to create eco-friendly alternatives to traditional environmentally and unhealthy products, like pesticides, fertilizers, fuel for cooking and heating, biogas, plastic alternatives and more. Other concepts have focused on water scarcity in agriculture by circularizing processes to use less water, reuse what is necessary, and other cost-effective and innovative solutions for farmers.

Some of the African teams’ real-world ideas that went on to earn Wege Prize awards include:

• FruiFresh, a 2024 first-place team that advanced energy-efficient charcoal cooling facilities to store produce and alleviate Rwanda’s post-harvest tomato losses. Currently, the group’s charcoal cooler is set to operate with a women’s cooperative that sells fruits and vegetables in the Rubengera/Karongi district of Rwanda. “Wege Prize opened us to think far,” said Claudine Kamanzi, the team’s lead. “We keep saying, ‘This is our beginning. We have to keep pushing.’”
• EcoFeed Pioneers from Rwanda, a 2024 third-place team that developed innovative biorefinery techniques designed to create a sustainable food supply.
• Green Poultry Farm from Mozambique, a 2023 second-place team that addressed environmental impacts of poultry farming by designing an anaerobic digestion to create usable waste streams. The system is underway with poultry farm clients in Chiango, Mozambique; Maputo City, Mozambique; and Matola, Mozambique.
• Green Promoters, a 2022 first-place team whose organic pesticide fertilizer is directed at replacing chemical products.
• Agritrade Hub, a 2021 first-place team that worked to transform Ghana’s wood waste from logging into nutrient-rich fertilizing compost.

Photo courtesy of KCAD and Wege Prize

Circular Economy Opens Avenue for Economic Prosperity

Organizations like the World Bank Group note that “without rapid deployment of inclusive, climate-informed development throughout the region, 43 million more people could be pushed below the poverty line by 2030.” Of consequence are Africa’s rising conflict and violence, extreme poverty and high debt, along with the potential of dire consequences related to unmitigated climate change, like cyclones, massive flooding and severe drought – all of which threaten economic growth.

As well, the UN Trade & Development’s Economic Development in Africa Report 2023 offers that the region “…has an abundance of critical minerals needed for high-tech and green products and is home to a young, tech-savvy population, an adaptable workforce and a burgeoning middle-class.”

“We are honored that Wege Prize continues to be a prime catalyst in the progression of a circular economy by advancing real-world ideas to economic challenges by passionate students from Africa – and other countries around the world,” DeBruyn said. “Africa’s youth is deeply connected to land and local issues and possess an acute awareness of the region’s economy. These young leaders are motivated to make a difference, and it’s exciting to see how insights gained from our industry experts help them to move forward and solve challenging problems through collaboration, innovation and intention.”