Of the nine university groups competing in this year's regional Middle East and Africa finals of Schneider Electric Go Green competition, six groups hailed from the Anglophone Africa region.

The theme for this year was Sustainable and Efficient Buildings, which urged participants to transform and unlock the efficiency of today's buildings in order to make them smarter and more people centric.

In 2022, over 22,200 students from 200 nations enrolled for the event, and over 3,700 ideas were submitted. The Schneider Go Green competition began in 2011.

According to the firm, the innovative ideas of the participating university students highlighted how buildings of the future will suit the needs of their occupants while minimising base load, running expenses, and environmental effect.

The six Anglophone Africa finalist groups were:

• Ina Vibe (Nigeria), which entered a solar-powered, insulated electric hob with a battery pack for cooking, charging and lighting;
• Green Mavericks (Kenya) entered AquaSpark-thermal storage battery device, which not only delivers energy, but also heats water for space heating;
• Carboclock’s (Kenya) Carbon Clock smart clock, displays real-time energy consumption of household equipment, raising consumer awareness of their carbon footprint and energy consumption;
• MetaMind (Kenya), whose research investigated the role of machine learning in smart energy control systems;
• Power Pals (South Africa) proposed a solution to combat excessive heat within urban heat islands; and
• LolaGreen (South Africa), whose concept demonstrates how industrial and plastic waste can be turned into sustainable, long-lasting building materials.

Despite the strong showing by African groups, Pakistan’s SKYLARKS won the competition with its Adaptive Facade Systems solution, which optimises insulation, reduces energy waste, and adapts to occupant needs, making it ideal for both new constructions and retrofitting existing buildings.

"We are extremely proud of our Anglophone African teams, whose audacious ideas wowed our panel of judges," said Modlay Davids, talent acquisition and employer branding lead: human resources at Schneider Electric.