Six African entrepreneurs have been named finalists for the 2026 Global Citizen Waislitz Choice Award, an international recognition that supports innovators working to end extreme poverty through practical and scalable solutions.
Public voting for the award is now open, with the winner set to receive US$100,000 to expand the reach of their work. The finalists represent Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania and Chad, and are tackling some of Africa’s most pressing challenges, including access to healthcare, clean water, education, food security, renewable energy and climate resilience.
Presented by Global Citizen and the Waislitz Foundation, the annual awards provide financial support to individuals whose work demonstrates measurable impact and the potential to improve lives at a larger scale. Beyond the funding, the awards also provide international recognition that can help social enterprises attract new partnerships, investment and wider support for their initiatives.
African innovators driving practical solutions
Oghenekevwe William Emadago, Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Girlified LTD, is addressing period poverty by turning agricultural waste into affordable sanitary pads. Growing up in Northern Nigeria, he witnessed girls missing school because they could not afford menstrual products. His organisation has transformed that experience into a sustainable business that also reduces plastic pollution. Since 2021, Girlified has produced more than 2.8 million sanitary pads and reached over 70,000 women and girls. If selected, the funding would help the organisation expand its operations to reach 10 million women and girls each year by 2030.
Smart Israel, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Smartel Agri Tech, is helping communities overcome food insecurity caused by climate change, displacement and conflict. Through AI-enabled, solar-powered hydroponic farming systems, Smartel allows families to grow food without soil in areas where traditional farming is difficult. The company has deployed more than 3,000 systems, improving access to nutritious food for thousands of households. The award would support plans to reach another 5,000 households while expanding its community hydroponic hub model.
Stanley Anigbogu, Chief Executive Officer of LightEd Impact Foundation, has developed a solution that combines renewable energy, waste recycling and community development. His organisation converts plastic and electronic waste into solar-powered Lighthouse Stations that provide electricity, clean water, digital learning opportunities and employment in off-grid and refugee communities. LightEd has already impacted more than 30,000 people. Winning the award would allow the foundation to establish more community-managed Lighthouse Stations while creating additional green jobs.
Faith Kuya, Chief Executive Officer of SafeSip, has focused her work on improving access to safe drinking water across East Africa. Inspired by her mother’s daily four-hour journey to collect unsafe water in a Maasai community, she developed SafeSip’s solar-powered WaterBank system, which delivers clean water at an affordable cost of one cent per litre. The solution is currently operating through 12 installations across Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda, serving about 87,500 people. The funding would enable SafeSip to install 10 additional WaterBanks, extending access to another 75,000 people.
Norah Magero, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Drop Access, is strengthening healthcare systems by improving cold-chain storage for medicines and vaccines. After experiencing the difficulty of accessing life-saving vaccines for her newborn while living in rural Kenya, she co-founded the company to develop portable solar-powered refrigeration and monitoring solutions. Drop Access has supported the safe delivery of more than three million doses of medicine, prevented the loss of 20 tonnes of food and improved the livelihoods of more than one million people across Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Rwanda and Côte d’Ivoire. The award would help the company strengthen after-sales support while expanding across East Africa.
Abakar Mahamat, Chief Executive Officer of O’Nadif, is working to eliminate water poverty in Chad through affordable water filtration technology. Motivated by the loss of a childhood friend to cholera caused by contaminated water, he established O’Nadif to provide safe drinking water through community-operated water stations. The organisation now serves more than 200,000 people, with water available for as little as US$1 per 1,000 litres. If successful, the award would help O’Nadif extend its services to another 50,000 people, supporting progress towards the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal of universal access to clean water by 2030.
Global award supporting scalable impact
Now in its twelfth year, the Global Citizen Waislitz Awards recognise individuals whose work is delivering measurable progress in the fight against extreme poverty. The programme offers three awards worth a combined US$300,000. These include the Global Citizen Waislitz Prize, the Disruptor Award and the Global Citizens’ Choice Award, each carrying a prize of US$100,000.
Applicants are evaluated on five key areas: global citizenship, proof of concept, disruption, scalability and adaptability. The judging process focuses on organisations that have already demonstrated measurable impact while showing strong potential to expand their solutions to reach more communities.
The awards are presented by Global Citizen and the Waislitz Foundation, a philanthropic organisation committed to supporting innovative projects that create measurable social impact around the world.
Speaking about the purpose of the awards, Waislitz Foundation Chairman and Founder Alex Waislitz said ending extreme poverty is “not a choice, it’s an obligation.” He added that he hopes the awards will inspire more people around the world to take action to improve the lives of those living in extreme poverty.
