By Kevin Odera
Four Kenyan students from St. Pauls University trounced their competitors to win the 2022 Hultz prize held in New York, USA on Tuesday.
The four students; Dullah Shiltone, Brian Ndung’u, Keylie Muthoni and Lennox Omondi who established Eco-Bana Limited were awarded a prize of Ksh.120 million.
The four intellects invented a mode of operation to produce biodegradable sanitary pads from banana fibre. They intend to combat period poverty by issuing biodegradable towels and averting the production of plastics.
Five finalists made their presentations in front of a dedicated panel of judges who would determine the overall winner at the finals of the award.
Before the announcement of the winner, one of the Kenyan students expressed confidence that their creative concept would win the prize.
“With $1 million (Ksh120 million), we’re confident that we will be the best and become number one manufacturers of biodegradable sanitary towels in Kenya and East Africa,” said Omondi.
“We are a team with business minds and a heart for the world. We’ll continue creating sustainable enterprises that will shape the future of the sanitary towels industry that will drive entrepreneurship growth,” added Omondi.
Ndung’u projected that their firm would create over 2000 job for Kenyan’s by 2024 and yield over Ksh.6 billion in revenue during their pitch.
“We project to sell more than three million pads, yielding over Ksh.6 billion and employ more than 2000 people by 2024,” said Ndung’u.
The other finalists who participated in the contest include Flexie (Australia), Openversum (Switzerland), Cooseii (Taiwan), Savvy Engineers (Pakistan) and Breer (Hong Kong). Former US president Bill Clinton also graced the event.
