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The Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation goes to Tuteria from Nigeria

by Milicent Atieno
TUTERIA

Tuteria, the Nigeria-based edtech startup has bagged the Royal Academy of Engineering Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation, walking home with $28,000.

The Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation was launched in 2014 and aims at acting as a catalyst to engineering endeavors. At the same time, it celebrates outstanding engineers with promising innovations/inventions.


For this edition of the competition, some sixteen innovators from eight sub-Saharan African countries were selected. They were then given training and mentorship for six months. During that time they were taught on things to do with business plans and innovative marketing strategies.

They were also coached on effective communication, customer satisfaction, and a winning formula on how to approach a potential investor. The competition climax was at an award ceremony held on May 23 in Nairobi, Kenya.

Of the participating startups, four got to the finalist stage and pitched before a panel of judges and a live audience at the award ceremony in Nairobi. Nigeria’s Tuteria was crowned the overall winner and the most promising engineering innovation.

About Tuteria

Tuteria, founded by 27-year-old systems engineer Godwin Benson, matches students with qualified tutors within their local area. Students get coached lessons within their budget via the e-learning platform.

Students find the lesson(s) they want to learn through the app on their smartphone, set their budget, and make a request for the nearest tutor around. On this platform, users can learn how to play the piano, sew clothes, and do a business plan among other wide range of academic subjects. There are lessons for learners of all ages.

The platform works on a rating system, whereby students book lessons upon upfront payment (done online), then proceed to confirm their tutor based on their ratings. Tuteria gets a 15-30% cut as a commission on each lesson paid.

Godwin Benson’s Tuteria invention changes the way Nigerians, and Africans, share knowledge and skills with one another. We’re proud to have him as our third Africa Prize winner, and we trust Tuteria will go on to change the lives of millions of people who are eager to learn and develop new skills,” said Malcolm Brinded CBE FREng, the lead judge of the competition.

His engineering innovation is not only new technology but also a new way of thinking about education. Benson has successfully incorporated the training of the the past six months into his project, and we are eager to watch Tuteria grow on the continent.”

The other three runners-up are GreenTower Microgrid from South Africa, Yaaka Digital Learning Network from Uganda, and Mobi-Water from Kenya. They each walked home with $13,000 cash prize.

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