Africa@2050 Prize Winners
In June, the Centre for Energy Ethics ran the inaugural Africa@2050 Climate Fiction Competition in conjunction with the Centre for Climate Change and Sustainability Studies (C3SS) at the University of Ghana. Over the course of this competition we received a truly astonishing number of entries. After much deliberation, our judging panel came up with a short and long list of entries from which four top-prize winners were selected.
It is our pleasure to announce the winners of our Africa@2050 Climate-Fiction Competition!

First prize winner – Kristien Potgieter
Kristien is a writer and editor from Johannesburg, South Africa. She holds a PhD in Creative Writing from Bath Spa University and an MA in Creative Writing from University of East Anglia, where she was a UEA Booker scholar. Her fiction has been published online and in print, and she currently works in educational publishing as an editor for Macmillan Education South Africa.
Visit Kristien Potgieter’s Website

Second Prize winner – Uche Peter Umezurike
Uche holds a PhD from the Department of English and Film Studies at the University of Alberta, Canada, where he is an Assistant Lecturer. An alumnus of the International Writing Program (USA), he is a co-editor of Wreaths for a Wayfarer, an anthology of poems. His children’s book Wish Maker and collection of short stories Double Wahala Double Trouble are forthcoming from Masobe Books, Nigeria and Griots Lounge Publishing, Canada, in fall 2021.
Find Uche Peter Umezurike on Twitter

Third co-prize winner – Kwasi Adi-Dako
Kwasi is a learning designer and writer from Accra, Ghana. He is most curious about connections between our histories and imagined futures, and explores these ideas by reading and writing science fiction, and building worlds for his friends to play in Dungeons & Dragons. He has worked in education design leadership in South Africa, Kenya, Rwanda, Mauritius, and Ghana, focusing on curriculum design, teacher training, and student experience management. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Columbia University in Psychology and is expecting a Master of Science from Stanford University’s Learning Design Technology program.
Learn more about Kwasi Adi-Dako
Third co-prize winner – Mawuli K.H. Bobobee
Mawuli is a Public Health Engineer at Glo Djigbe Industrial Zone in Benin Republic. He is a passionate environmentalist at heart, a regional WASH specialist with hopes of leveraging his experience to build sustainable water supply systems in Africa. He is an amateur writer who is inspired by the African Writers Series, biblical themes, popular culture and space travel. One day, he hopes to be interred on the Moon.
Other Prize-Winners
In addition to our major winners above we also had a number of outstanding works which were awarded cash prizes. Here is a list of our prize-winners:
Name | Country | Work Title |
Buhle | Zimbabwe | Days before paradise |
Catherine Wanjiku Warui | Kenya | EARTH’S DEADLY REVENGE |
Daniel Ekow Melfah | Ghana | The Conflicted Engineer |
Dennis Da-ala Mirilla | Nigeria | The Last Fisherman of Abisa |
Diana Mwango | Zambia | Just a bare land (short poem) |
Hammond Adjoa Gracelove | Ghana | Energy? |
Lyster Matamanda | Zimbabwe | A case against mankind |
Penu Selasi Perpetual | Ghana | Meeting Again – a short story |
Rugare Nyamhunga | South Africa | The Water Harvesters |
Skitah Wambũi Mũcheke | Kenya | A second Move |
Tsoshelesto Chidi | South Africa | Mzansi South Avenue |
Honourable Mentions
Aanuoluwapo John Adesina | Diouf Kiptarbei | Muthoni wa Gichuru |
Abdullahi Zuliehat Ohunene | Dorcas Omowole | Nabasa Linda |
Adamu Ahmadu | Emily Munamie | Nana Oye Djan |
Adebisi Damilare | Esther Sheila Musila | Ndudi Michael Ebele |
Ani Kayode Somtochukwu | Frederick Sena Mantey | Odongo Kennedy Leakey |
Awopetu Emmanuel | Halima Amadu | Ogonna Chiemeziem Obi |
Ayo Makinde | Ibrahim Sofiyullaha Olaitan | Onilude Ayomide |
Balpolam Idi | Isaiah Glory Ize | Solanke Gabriel Oluwasegun |
Botti Pius Ottavio | Javishkar Reddy | Suzana Otaigo Nyamkindo |
Chinenye Olivia Oguadinma | Joseph Aketema | Timothy Akinrinmola Ojo-Ibukun |
Chinonyelum Linda Oforka | Michell Minenhle Bhebhe | Ugochukwu Anadi |
Chinua Ezenwa-Ohaeto | Mose Njo |