Scaling up innovations in LMICs Report

Lessons from the Afri-Plastics Challenge

Thanks to our partners, StateUp, for their support in creating this report, and to the Afri-Plastics Challenge Innovators. 

Challenge prizes harness open innovation and enable the discovery of high-value solutions for a diversity of problems. Over the past few decades this method has gained popularity, and it is essential that we build up a strong evidence base to inform their design.

This report sets out to map the barriers to scaling innovation and the opportunities for supporting the scaling process through open competition, providing the basis for developing the future of similar innovation funding models. It builds on lessons from the ‘Accelerating Growth’ strand of the recently completed Afri- Plastics Challenge, a challenge prize competition funded by the Government of Canada, and designed and delivered by Challenge Works. The Afri-Plastics Challenge sought to scale innovative approaches to plastic waste management across Sub-Saharan Africa, with a focus on empowering women and girls.

If you’re interested in learning more about the outcomes discussion in this report, don’t hesitate to reach out to our team.