At just 24 years old, Ugandan software engineer Brian Gitta has made a significant impact on healthcare with his groundbreaking invention, Matibabu. Recently awarded the prestigious Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation, Gitta’s device provides a swift, bloodless malaria testing solution that aims to revolutionize how the disease is diagnosed and managed in Uganda and beyond.
Gitta’s journey into the world of innovation was deeply personal. Having faced multiple bouts of malaria during his childhood, which often interrupted his education, he felt compelled to find a better solution. Teaming up with fellow innovators, he developed Matibabu, a device that uses a simple yet effective technology to diagnose malaria quickly.
The operation is straightforward: the device is clipped onto a patient’s finger, and a red beam of light shines through, analyzing the shape, color, and concentration of red blood cells. Within just one minute, the results are transmitted to a connected mobile phone, offering immediate feedback on the patient’s malaria status.
Gitta’s achievement is not just notable for its innovation; he is also the first Ugandan and the youngest recipient of the Africa Prize, receiving £25,000 (approximately 124 million Ugandan shillings) for his work. This recognition is expected to facilitate better production management and open doors for crucial partnerships that could help scale Matibabu’s impact. “We are incredibly honored to win the Africa Prize. It’s such a big achievement for us because it means that we can better manage production in order to scale clinical trials and prove ourselves to regulators,” Gitta remarked.
Matibabu is designed for individuals, health centers, and diagnostic suppliers, and is currently undergoing testing in collaboration with a national hospital in Uganda. The team is actively sourcing suppliers for the sensitive magnetic and laser components essential for large-scale production. Their vision extends to deploying the device in community settings, allowing people to access quick malaria tests easily.
Founded in 2014, the Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation aims to nurture and promote the ingenuity of sub-Saharan African engineers tackling critical local challenges. The Prize provides participants with not just funding but also business training, mentoring, and access to a network of experienced engineers. Gitta and his team have already begun to attract attention from international researchers, and they are compiling their findings into an academic paper set to be published soon.
Rebecca Enonchong, one of the judges for the Africa Prize, emphasized the significance of Gitta’s work, stating, “We are very proud of this year’s winner. It’s a perfect example of how engineering can unlock development, in this case by improving healthcare. Matibabu is simply a game changer.”
In the competition, sixteen shortlisted entrants from seven countries received invaluable training and mentorship to refine their business plans and enhance their communication skills. The runners-up—Nigeria’s Ifediora Ugochukwu, Ghana’s Michael Asante-Afrifa, and Zimbabwe’s Collins Saguru—each received £10,000 for their respective innovations, which also promise to drive significant change in their fields. Ugochukwu’s iMeter provides users with transparency and control over electricity supply, Asante-Afrifa’s Science Set serves as a mini science lab for educational experiments, and Saguru’s AltMet offers a sustainable method for recovering precious metals from automotive parts.
