Nigerian start-up wins $200,000 for turning farm waste into cooking gas
D-Olivette Labs took an AGFUND prize for Bio-360, an AI- and sensor-driven biodigester that also makes power and fertiliser.
Lagos — D-Olivette Labs, a Nigerian climate and agriculture technology company, has won US$200,000 in the 2025 Prince Talal International Prize for Human Development, awarded by the Arab Gulf Programme for Development (AGFUND) at a ceremony in Yerevan, Armenia.
Its project, Bio-360, uses artificial intelligence and sensors to run biodigesters that turn farm and food waste into clean cooking gas, electricity and organic fertiliser. This year's prize was dedicated to affordable and clean energy.
Co-founder and chief executive Tunde Adeyemi told the ceremony that the company was born from the death of his mother, who suffered respiratory failure he believes was linked to years of cooking over firewood. He said even a US$100 clean cookstove is out of reach for the 2.3 billion people who still cook with wood and charcoal, and that the firm's purpose is dignity rather than technology for its own sake.
The other winners
- UNICEF in Myanmar ($400,000) for solar-powered village water supply.
- NAPAD, working in Kenya and Somalia ($300,000), for food security and community conflict management among displaced herding families.
- Oorja of India ($100,000) for pay-per-use solar irrigation.
AGFUND, founded in Riyadh in 1980, has given the prize since 1999. The 2026 round focuses on health and is open for applications.
Source: Premium Times, 29 October 2026.
