Innovating in the Time of COVID-19 – Frederick Ennin’s Contribution

It is easy and tempting to discount the possibility of innovation, especially in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. Frederick Ennin is a Mastercard Foundation Scholar at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), and being the optimist that he is, he saw the pandemic as an opportunity to come up with solutions to make the world a better and a safer place.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends proper hand washing as one of the top approaches to contain the spread of the virus. Thus weeks before Ghana confirmed its first case of COVID-19, households and businesses had acquired Veronica Buckets and other hand washing essentials in their homes and offices. “I realized a gap in the hand washing process and decided to fill it as the already existing hand washing options could further spread the virus,” said Frederick. According to him, the mechanisms for handwashing that existed in his native country Ghana had many limitations like difficulty transporting from place to place, the relatively expensive cost for the average Ghanaian, the requirement to touch the shared taps for handwashing, and reliance on electricity in some cases. “Based on research I conducted, I realized that what people needed was a median system that will eliminate the touching of soap and water regulators, is easily transportable, and non-dependent on solar/hydroelectric energy,” Frederick added.

Thus, working under the close supervision of the Technology Consultancy Center at KNUST, Frederick developed The Point Washer. The Point Washer is mobile and light-weight (to aid easy transportation), operated by foot (to do away with electricity reliance), can easily be connected and disconnected to and from one source of water (direct tap or reservoir) to another and affordable to the local people. The Point Washer thus provides a more sustainable approach to break the germ transmission cycle during handwashing. “Currently whilst we’ve installed the Point Washer for use on the KNUST campus, there are considerable demand for the product that we are working around the clock to meet.” said Frederick

With academic background in medical laboratory technologies and a strong interest in agriculture, Frederick has established MATSKY Technologies, a startup that is into healthcare and agricultural innovations. “By 2035, Africa will have the world’s largest population and through MATSKY Technologies we will create jobs and unleash the ingenuity of young Africans innovate . Currently we are developing projects in the agriculture sector that will improve food security and increase agricultural productivity”

Click Here to Watch how Frederick Ennin’s Point Washer works