Winners of the Nkabom Africa Case Competition 2026 have received their prizes at a ceremony held at the Auditorium, Multi-Purpose Building on the campus of the University of Environment and Sustainable Development (UESD), Somanya, Eastern Region.
The event brought together members of the University community, partners of the Nkabom Collaborative, representatives from McGill University, and industry stakeholders.
The overall winners, Eastside Sankofa Industries Ghana, emerged with an innovative agribusiness solution aimed at reducing post-harvest mango waste by processing surplus mangoes into value-added products such as juice, snacks, and body butter. The team members are Godson Etsri (BSc Energy Sustainability), Benjamin Ansu Anyame (BSc Sustainable Development), and Aaron Tawiah Blagodzi (BSc Energy and Resource Economics). Their solution also integrates nutrition, education, and sustainable entrepreneurship. The team received a cash prize of CAD 10,000 for emerging winners of the competition.
The first runners-up, the Biotechnology for African Nutrition Collaborative, a joint team of students from the University of Ghana and Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), received CAD 7,500. Their project focused on improving child nutrition through the use of indigenous crops, micro-livestock production, and school-based agricultural learning systems.
The Associate Director of McGill University’s Sustainable Growth Initiative, Mr. Adam Turcotte, commended participants for their creativity and congratulated the winners on their achievement. He highlighted the importance of curiosity, collaboration, and systems thinking in addressing complex sustainability challenges, urging students to move beyond the classroom and work collectively to develop practical solutions.
He noted that the competition attracted more than one 100 entries from across the globe, with only five teams advancing to the finals, including teams from Princeton University, the University of Cambridge, and Arizona State University.
In her welcome address, the Registrar of UESD and Project Administrator of the Nkabom Collaborative-UESD, Mrs. Mary Abena Agyepong, described the competition as a platform that promotes innovation, teamwork, and practical problem-solving among young people across Africa. She explained that the Nkabom Project is a 10-year collaborative initiative involving several Ghanaian universities and international partners, aimed at empowering youth through agribusiness and sustainable entrepreneurship.
The Chairman of the UESD Governing Council, Hon. Seth Emmanuel Terkper, commended the students for addressing real-world challenges, particularly in nutrition and sustainable development. He stressed the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration, noting that “silos do not feed people,” and encouraged participants to translate their ideas into impactful ventures.
The Vice-Chancellor of UESD and Principal Investigator of the Nkabom Collaborative-UESD, Prof. Eric Nyarko-Sampson, reiterated the University’s commitment to nurturing innovation through its core values of Honesty, Opportunity, Perseverance, and Enterprise (HOPE). He urged students to refine and scale their ideas, particularly in addressing agricultural waste and food security challenges.
Representatives of the winning and first runner-up teams expressed appreciation to the organisers and pledged to continue developing their solutions to create a lasting impact.