TLDR: Kenyan entrepreneur Elly Savatia has won the prestigious 2025 Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation, awarded by the UK’s Royal Academy of Engineering, for his AI-powered app, Terp 360. The app translates speech and text into sign language in real-time using 3D avatars, aiming to bridge communication gaps for deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals across Africa.
Kenyan social entrepreneur Elly Savatia, 25, has been honored with the 2025 Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation, a distinguished award presented by the UK’s Royal Academy of Engineering. Savatia received a grant of £50,000 (approximately KSh 8.6 million or $67,000) for his groundbreaking application, Terp 360, an artificial intelligence-powered platform designed to translate spoken and written words into sign language in real-time using lifelike 3D avatars. The award ceremony took place on October 16 in Dakar, Senegal, where Terp 360 was selected as the top innovation among four finalists from across Africa.
Savatia developed Terp 360 to address the critical shortage of human sign language interpreters and the resulting communication barriers faced by deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals in accessing essential services such as education, healthcare, and employment. He described the app as ‘Google Translate for sign language,’ emphasizing its role in enabling seamless communication without the constant need for human intervention.
Speaking to CNN, Savatia highlighted the challenges: “To go to the workplace, education, and healthcare, you have to communicate. But the deaf community, they’re left behind.” He further explained, “Companies cannot afford interpreters… and they just don’t have the tools to effectively integrate these people. We see ourselves as an enabler. We are able to do sign language, but at scale.”
Rebecca Enonchong, chair of the prize-judging panel, lauded Savatia’s innovation, stating, “What really stood out about Elly’s solution is the level of innovation. It’s a demonstration that Africans are capable of using cutting-edge technology to solve problems, not just locally but globally.” She also noted the significant social impact, particularly for assistive technologies, which are often underserved globally.
Terp 360 was developed in close collaboration with Kenya’s deaf and hard-of-hearing community. The platform currently boasts a dataset of over 2,300 recorded signs, including commonly used words and phrases in Kenyan Sign Language. To ensure accuracy, motion sensors are utilized to track the movements of a signer’s hands. The team has established a motion capture studio in Nairobi, capable of recording up to 1,000 new words daily.
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Currently, Terp 360 supports translations from English and Swahili into Kenyan Sign Language. However, ambitious plans are underway to expand its linguistic capabilities. By mid-2027, the team aims to support translations for Rwandan, Ugandan, South African, British, and American sign languages, with collaborations planned with NGOs, sign language projects, and media houses across Africa to train the AI in new languages. This expansion underscores the app’s potential to empower millions of deaf Africans and beyond, fostering greater inclusion and accessibility.
