2025 GSTEP Challenge: 15 finalists in G/A inducted to prepare for the final pitch and award ceremony

The final exhibition and awarding stage of the 2025 Ghana Science and Tech Explorer Challenge Prize (GSTEP) is fast approaching, and fifteen (15) teams have been inducted in the Greater Accra region ahead of the event.

Out of over a hundred entries from the preliminary stage, these finalists are privileged to have been selected to create their final prototypes and pitch them to qualify for the final awards.

Inspired by a wide range of experiences, the teams are all geared up to create innovative, problem-solving prototypes to secure their spots in the exhibition and awards ceremony.

During the induction ceremony, some of the participants shared the inspirations behind their projects, expressing their readiness for the final pitching stage.

Thirteen-year-old Kwabena Boateng Danky, a member of the Technocraft Innowear team, narrated that his team is creating a technological protective wear to help minimize the recurring cases of kidnapping in Ghana, inspired by a traumatic kidnapping experience he endured at the age of 8.

“It was a part of a vacation where we had to go and visit our grandmother. So my dad gave me his phone to head towards the house. My siblings had already left. I was called back to comb my hair because it was it wasn’t done well. So then they brought me back. My siblings left. I saw I thought I saw them pass the right side, but it was the left side because there were two parts. So after I quickly rushed to catch up with them and I took the right path. But then I realized that after a long walk, I couldn’t locate the house I was looking for. So then I met an old woman who greeted me and told me and asked where I’m going, and I told her where I wanted to go. She told me that I had to cross the road, but that’s not a direction my dad gave me.”

“So I realized that I was in the wrong place. But before I realized, there was this man who looked big and strong. He was talking to me, and I got scared. But then before I could move or even respond, he held me, covered my eyes and my mouth. He sent me to a dark room and in that dark room, I heard some men talking about something being sold. I don’t know if they’re talking about me or something else, so I was very scared. Then for some time, someone opened the door, and I took the opportunity to run out.”

He smartly sneaked out with his father’s phone, which helped him call for rescue from his uncle. This traumatic experience inspired the idea of creating Innowear to deter potential kidnappers as cases of missing persons continue to rise daily.

For Shirley Anna Semakor, a member of Intel Technological, she witnessed a frustrating situation where fishermen lamented the difficulty of finding fish at the beach. As a result, they proposed increasing the price of fish to sell the small amount they had gathered and cater to themselves.

This situation drew her attention to the possibility of inventing a device to ease the fishermen’s struggles in their work.

“The inspiration came when I was visiting one of the beaches in Accra. I saw that fishermen that they did not catch more fishes. So they were complaining. And they also said that they already had made the decisions to use DDT in fishing so that they can get more fishes. But these DDTs and dynamites, they are very dangerous because when they catch fishes with DDT, the DDT can enter into your human body system when you eat the fish. And also, it can cause harm to the marine ecosystem. Fish can die early, and therefore, they pollute the waters in Ghana. So we decided that we would create a waterproof device. That would mean that the device will not get easily spoiled when it enters into water so that it can detect where fishes are for fishermen to go and catch them so that they can get more fishes for themselves.”

A team member of Scientific Inventors, Quincy Alvin Owoo, also shared how JoyNews’ documentary hotline, ‘Poisoned for Gold,’ inspired their idea to create a water metal detector to help identify heavy metals in water bodies.

“One day, a friend of mine came to us and spoke about how deformed babies are relating to the earth. So we all came about to join just so that we can reduce how people are dying from heavy metals and also being deformed by heavy metals. He said he got it from a JoyNews documentary, Poison for Gold. When he said it, we went to research on it so that we can have a look of it. And when he said it was really terrible to find a baby without hand, leg, and without any parts. So we come together to create a device that will help us find heavy metals in water bodies or at mining sites so that we can reduce the heavy metals in water bodies.”

These are brilliant ideas from a few of the teams. The others equally have intriguing, problem-solving project ideas, as they are all poised and putting in efforts to create the best prototypes and clinch the ultimate prize.

The organizers are also working tirelessly, providing well-equipped STEM materials for all the teams in the development of their projects and ensuring that the exhibition and awards ceremony will be a success.

“It is getting to the exciting part where the children, are going to be supported financial aid support them to improve their prototypes so they can bring out refined prototypes, during the exhibition and award ceremony. So we have provided a bit of the materials, but for those who have qualified to the final stage, yes, we are going to fund some of them. We’re going to give them, seed funding to improve on a prototype that they have developed,” Francis Ahene-Affoh is the lead for Partnerships and Alliances with the Partnership Bureau shared.

On behalf of the team, he extended their utmost gratitude to the Ministry of Education and Ghana Education Service for their support in previous editions, urging private STEM-oriented organizations and ‘STEMpreneurs’ to come on board and help with funding to bring the competition to a grand climax.

“We’ve been working with the Ministry of Education and Ghana Education Service, and we are thankful for their support. The teachers, the STEM coordinators, the students who are in this program are because of, Ghana Education Service. It is through their powers their powers that these, schools and teams, come in to join the challenge, and we’re really thankful for all the support that they’ve been giving us throughout the years. We expect business partners or strategic partners as we call them to come in and help us and nurture the young people in business development, marketing, and accounting.”

The GSTEP Challenge organisers will move to the Eastern and Ashanti regions to induct other finalists to join the Greater Accra team as they battle for the best.

2025 GSTEP Challenge: 15 finalists in G/A inducted to prepare for the final pitch and award ceremony

The final exhibition and awarding stage of the 2025 Ghana Science and Tech Explorer Challenge Prize (GSTEP) is fast approaching, and fifteen (15) teams have been inducted in the Greater Accra region ahead of the event.

Out of over a hundred entries from the preliminary stage, these finalists are privileged to have been selected to create their final prototypes and pitch them to qualify for the final awards.

Inspired by a wide range of experiences, the teams are all geared up to create innovative, problem-solving prototypes to secure their spots in the exhibition and awards ceremony.

During the induction ceremony, some of the participants shared the inspirations behind their projects, expressing their readiness for the final pitching stage.

Thirteen-year-old Kwabena Boateng Danky, a member of the Technocraft Innowear team, narrated that his team is creating a technological protective wear to help minimize the recurring cases of kidnapping in Ghana, inspired by a traumatic kidnapping experience he endured at the age of 8.

“It was a part of a vacation where we had to go and visit our grandmother. So my dad gave me his phone to head towards the house. My siblings had already left. I was called back to comb my hair because it was it wasn’t done well. So then they brought me back. My siblings left. I saw I thought I saw them pass the right side, but it was the left side because there were two parts. So after I quickly rushed to catch up with them and I took the right path. But then I realized that after a long walk, I couldn’t locate the house I was looking for. So then I met an old woman who greeted me and told me and asked where I’m going, and I told her where I wanted to go. She told me that I had to cross the road, but that’s not a direction my dad gave me.”

“So I realized that I was in the wrong place. But before I realized, there was this man who looked big and strong. He was talking to me, and I got scared. But then before I could move or even respond, he held me, covered my eyes and my mouth. He sent me to a dark room and in that dark room, I heard some men talking about something being sold. I don’t know if they’re talking about me or something else, so I was very scared. Then for some time, someone opened the door, and I took the opportunity to run out.”

He smartly sneaked out with his father’s phone, which helped him call for rescue from his uncle. This traumatic experience inspired the idea of creating Innowear to deter potential kidnappers as cases of missing persons continue to rise daily.

For Shirley Anna Semakor, a member of Intel Technological, she witnessed a frustrating situation where fishermen lamented the difficulty of finding fish at the beach. As a result, they proposed increasing the price of fish to sell the small amount they had gathered and cater to themselves.

This situation drew her attention to the possibility of inventing a device to ease the fishermen’s struggles in their work.

“The inspiration came when I was visiting one of the beaches in Accra. I saw that fishermen that they did not catch more fishes. So they were complaining. And they also said that they already had made the decisions to use DDT in fishing so that they can get more fishes. But these DDTs and dynamites, they are very dangerous because when they catch fishes with DDT, the DDT can enter into your human body system when you eat the fish. And also, it can cause harm to the marine ecosystem. Fish can die early, and therefore, they pollute the waters in Ghana. So we decided that we would create a waterproof device. That would mean that the device will not get easily spoiled when it enters into water so that it can detect where fishes are for fishermen to go and catch them so that they can get more fishes for themselves.”

A team member of Scientific Inventors, Quincy Alvin Owoo, also shared how JoyNews’ documentary hotline, ‘Poisoned for Gold,’ inspired their idea to create a water metal detector to help identify heavy metals in water bodies.

“One day, a friend of mine came to us and spoke about how deformed babies are relating to the earth. So we all came about to join just so that we can reduce how people are dying from heavy metals and also being deformed by heavy metals. He said he got it from a JoyNews documentary, Poison for Gold. When he said it, we went to research on it so that we can have a look of it. And when he said it was really terrible to find a baby without hand, leg, and without any parts. So we come together to create a device that will help us find heavy metals in water bodies or at mining sites so that we can reduce the heavy metals in water bodies.”

These are brilliant ideas from a few of the teams. The others equally have intriguing, problem-solving project ideas, as they are all poised and putting in efforts to create the best prototypes and clinch the ultimate prize.

The organizers are also working tirelessly, providing well-equipped STEM materials for all the teams in the development of their projects and ensuring that the exhibition and awards ceremony will be a success.

“It is getting to the exciting part where the children, are going to be supported financial aid support them to improve their prototypes so they can bring out refined prototypes, during the exhibition and award ceremony. So we have provided a bit of the materials, but for those who have qualified to the final stage, yes, we are going to fund some of them. We’re going to give them, seed funding to improve on a prototype that they have developed,” Francis Ahene-Affoh is the lead for Partnerships and Alliances with the Partnership Bureau shared.

On behalf of the team, he extended their utmost gratitude to the Ministry of Education and Ghana Education Service for their support in previous editions, urging private STEM-oriented organizations and ‘STEMpreneurs’ to come on board and help with funding to bring the competition to a grand climax.

“We’ve been working with the Ministry of Education and Ghana Education Service, and we are thankful for their support. The teachers, the STEM coordinators, the students who are in this program are because of, Ghana Education Service. It is through their powers their powers that these, schools and teams, come in to join the challenge, and we’re really thankful for all the support that they’ve been giving us throughout the years. We expect business partners or strategic partners as we call them to come in and help us and nurture the young people in business development, marketing, and accounting.”

The GSTEP Challenge organisers will move to the Eastern and Ashanti regions to induct other finalists to join the Greater Accra team as they battle for the best.