4 Kenyan University Students Bag $1 million for their eco-friendly innovation.

By Owen Konzolo

Four university students are the newest start up millionaires in Kenya after their reusable banana fiber sanitary pads innovation won them the Hult Prize and they were awarded $1 million which can be roughly over 120 million in Kenyan currency.
Lennox Omondi, Dullah Shiltone, Keylie Muthoni and Brian Ndungu emerged winners beating five other groups at the 2022 Hult Prize in New York, United States of America.
The four are founders of Eco-bana Ltd in Limuru area in Kenya and are students at St Paul’s University, Limuru. Their company makes biodegradable sanitary towels to stop plastic manufacturing and end period poverty.
Despite not receiving the expected support from the nations government, they went ahead to win the regional summit held in Johannesburg, South Africa earlier in May and they were second in the Global accelerator in Boston, Massachusetts.
They were congratulated by many renowned personalities including former United States President Bill Clinton and the President of Kenya, William Ruto.
The four while pitching said that they want to sell more than 3 million pads and employ over 2000 people by 2024.
Such innovations by the youth should be widely celebrated and embraced as an integral part of fighting the climate crisis. Young people will suffer the greatest consequences if ambitious measures to mitigate climate change are not immediately taken and thus, they have the most to gain from climate action. A crisis of this magnitude requires all hands on deck. Everyone irregardless of his/her age has a role to play in the fight against climate change