Nigerian girls win Silicon Valley contest for app that spots fake drugs

By Stephanie Busari, CNN and Segun Akande, for CNN

Updated 1351 GMT (2151 HKT) August 17, 2018

Africa is brimming with innovative ideas. These schoolgirls from Nigeria have won the 2018 Technovation Challenge for their app that detects counterfeit medicine.<br /><br /><strong><em>Scroll through to discover the inventions and innovations coming out of Africa.</em></strong>
Photos: African innovations tackling serious health problems
Africa is brimming with innovative ideas. These schoolgirls from Nigeria have won the 2018 Technovation Challenge for their app that detects counterfeit medicine.

Scroll through to discover the inventions and innovations coming out of Africa.
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Their mobile app, called, FD-Detector, helps users identify fake medicines using a drug's barcode to verify its authenticity and expiration date.
Photos: African innovations tackling serious health problems
Spotting fake drugs – Their mobile app, called, FD-Detector, helps users identify fake medicines using a drug's barcode to verify its authenticity and expiration date.
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This biomedical smart jacket created by Ugandan inventor Brian Turyabagye can diagnose pneumonia four times faster than a doctor. It analyzes the chest and then sends the information via Bluetooth to a smartphone app. <br /><br /><a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2017/10/24/africa/biomedical-jacket-uganda-africa-tech-rising/index.html" target="_blank"> Read more</a> about this biomedical breakthrough.
Photos: African innovations tackling serious health problems
Jacket diagnosing pneumonia – This biomedical smart jacket created by Ugandan inventor Brian Turyabagye can diagnose pneumonia four times faster than a doctor. It analyzes the chest and then sends the information via Bluetooth to a smartphone app.

Read more about this biomedical breakthrough.
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A startup in Dakar, Senegal called JokkoSante helps locals exchange unused medication at a licensed pharmacy for points they can then spend on future medications. <br /><br /><a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2017/05/03/health/jokkosante-medicine-app-senegal/index.html">Read more</a> about the startup.
Photos: African innovations tackling serious health problems
Virtual pharmacy for unused medicine – A startup in Dakar, Senegal called JokkoSante helps locals exchange unused medication at a licensed pharmacy for points they can then spend on future medications.

Read more about the startup.
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Nigerian inventor, Osh Agabi, created a device that fuses live neurons from mice stem cells into a silicon chip. The device can be used to detect explosives and cancer cells.<br /><br /><a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2017/08/28/africa/koniku-kore-tedglobal/index.html">Read more</a> about Agabi's innovation.
Photos: African innovations tackling serious health problems
Fusing neurons with silicon technology – Nigerian inventor, Osh Agabi, created a device that fuses live neurons from mice stem cells into a silicon chip. The device can be used to detect explosives and cancer cells.

Read more about Agabi's innovation.
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This touch-screen heart monitoring device invented by Cameroonian entrepreneur, Arthur Zang, records and sends heart activity to a national healthcare center for evaluation. <br /><br /><a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2016/06/06/africa/arthur-zang---cardio-pad-cameroon/index.html" target="_blank">Read more</a> about this device.
Photos: African innovations tackling serious health problems
Revolutionizing rural healthcare – This touch-screen heart monitoring device invented by Cameroonian entrepreneur, Arthur Zang, records and sends heart activity to a national healthcare center for evaluation.

Read more about this device.
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Five Kenya teenage girls created an app called i-Cut, designed to connect girls affected by Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) to legal and medical assistance.<br /><br /><a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2017/07/28/africa/kenyan-girls-fgm-app/index.html" target="_blank">Read more</a> about it here.
Photos: African innovations tackling serious health problems
Helping girls affected by FGM – Five Kenya teenage girls created an app called i-Cut, designed to connect girls affected by Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) to legal and medical assistance.

Read more about it here.
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Smartphone app Portable Eye Examination Kit (Peek) has been used in Kenya, Botswana and India to test patients who would otherwise find getting proper eye care difficult.<br /><br /><a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2016/03/31/africa/peek-eye-app/index.html" target="_blank">Read more</a> about Peek.
Photos: African innovations tackling serious health problems
Eye exams on a smartphone – Smartphone app Portable Eye Examination Kit (Peek) has been used in Kenya, Botswana and India to test patients who would otherwise find getting proper eye care difficult.

Read more about Peek.
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<a href="https://www.bespecular.com/" target="_blank">BeSpecular</a>, an app from South Africa, allows volunteers to remotely assist blind people. The app uses an algorithm to connect the right people, those similar in age and physical location. <br /><br /><a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2016/11/24/africa/be-specular-app-helps-the-blind/index.html">Read more</a> about this app<a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2016/11/24/africa/be-specular-app-helps-the-blind/index.html">. </a>
Photos: African innovations tackling serious health problems
Lending eyes to the blind – BeSpecular, an app from South Africa, allows volunteers to remotely assist blind people. The app uses an algorithm to connect the right people, those similar in age and physical location.

Read more about this app