Robert Shimaingo is a 38 year old inventor who invented an
ice plant and a moving power plant on the Kafue River.
Robert lost his mother when he was a teenager and was left
to take care of his younger siblings. Being used to inventing things, he took
advantage of his skills and constructed A Rope-Braiding Machine. With this
invention he managed to make enough money to support his family. He gradually
improved the machine and the motorised version he now uses can produce 3, 000
meters of rope per day.
His next project was constructing a floating Hydro-Power
Plant. The idea to build it came to him when he saw the problems fishermen
along the Kafue River experienced in getting fish to the market.
“I saw how they were
transporting big heavy blocks of ice up the river and often they melted before
they reached their villages. With the Hydro-Power Plant they can connect a
freezer and keep the fish frozen in order to get a better price at the market.”
In 2013 the prestigious American university MIT held a
summit for inventors in Lusaka. Robert Shimaingo managed to travel to the
capital to attend and he immediately grabbed the attention of the visitors.
They invited him to go and visit the engineering labs at MIT and meet students
working there. After that visit, MIT continues to support him. They pay the
rent for his workshop in Kafue and provide him with the funds to buy the
materials needed for developing his prototypes.
“I only went to school
up to grade 9 and I don’t have access to the internet, but I try to read some
books. Mostly I just try to understand how things work and come up with
solutions to problems.”
Today Robert Shimaingo is still working on improving his
hydro-power plant and will start developing a fully automated Nshima Cooking
Machine, an invention that would save hours of cooking time and effort every
day for many Zambian families.
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