Africa is home to many young talented people. From North to the South, East to the West, it’s the same story. The latest story, which has gone viral, is from Namibia.
According to venturesafrica.com, the invention of a secondary school student has gotten Namibia’s social media abuzz for the right reasons. Simon Petrus has created a mobile phone that works with radio frequencies, no sim card nor airtime credit required. Calls can be made to anyone, anywhere, without interruptions, as long as they are done in an area with radio frequency.
The invention, which took two years for him to complete, was put together using scraps of old television and mobile phones, and required over $2,000 funding from his unemployed parents who sacrificed a lot to ensure their son’s project was successful.
Petrus (Centre)
Other than the sim-less phone, Petrus’ invention is a whole unit comprising of a working radio, television, a light bulb, a fan, and a socket. According to reports, the phone is not Petrus’ first invention, just his latest. Last year, the young man won first place at a competition for young innovators in Namibia for creating a machine that doubles as a seed drier and a cooler.
Going by the looks of things, this young man is set to clinch another gold medal in the forthcoming competition, having already won first place at the regional level for his “free-to-call” phone last Friday. “When he won last year, some judges were of the opinion that there was an engineer at home who was helping him. But the only help he has is from us the teachers here at school. He came up with his own project,” Taimi Vatileni, Petrus’s science teacher told New Era.
Vatileni also described the young inventor as an average student “in general”, but one who led his peers in the sciences. Petrus aspires to become an electronics engineer after school.
Indeed Namibia is currently boasting a good number of young innovators and a variety of revolutionary projects. Last year, a Namibian student, Gerson Mangundu, developed the country’s own social network site – Namhook. Two years ago, Josua Nghaamwa built a satellite booster with scraps to enhance internet connectivity in the rural areas of Namibia where there are weak signals.
Also, at Abraham Iyambo Senior Secondary School, where Simon Petrus is a student, a young lady, Adreheid Hamutumwa made a bath soap with indigenous plant roots and animal fat. Her invention won third place at the regional level of the NamPower competition for innovators last Friday. She will be heading to the national competition alongside Petrus.
