Two Commonwealth Young Persons of the Year are harnessing solar technology to tackle environmental and economic challenges. In Nigeria, Stanley Anigbogu turns discarded plastic into lighting for displaced families. In Uganda, Shifra Ainomugisha uses solar-powered cold storage, irrigation and artificial intelligence to help smallholder farmers reduce food losses. Their stories show how youth-led ideas, connected to Commonwealth networks, can grow into pathways to resilience and prosperity.
Stanley Anigbogu, the 2025 Commonwealth Young Person of the Year, grew up with unreliable electricity and knew the frustration of studying through power cuts. In 2020, he founded LightEd and turned that childhood experience towards the energy needs of Abuja’s Durumi camp for internally displaced people.
His Lighthouse for Peace project transformed 600 kilograms of recycled plastic—almost 30,000 bottles—into a community energy hub. Thirty solar streetlights and 20 floodlights now illuminate the camp, while the hub charges more than 250 devices each week. Children study after sunset, neighbours gather more safely and young volunteers gain green skills.
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“I want to ensure that darkness never limits another child’s ambition,” Stanley has said. In Durumi, that promise is no longer abstract; it shines from every lamp.
Shifra Ainomugisha, the 2026 Commonwealth Young Person of the Year, began not in a large laboratory but on her family’s modest tomato farm in western Uganda. Each morning, she collected fruit that had softened, split or rotted before reaching market. “Almost half a harvest could disappear, although my parents worked relentlessly and still struggled to keep us in school. Why is this so?” she asked.
Her answer became Solafam Uganda Ltd, the woman-led social enterprise she co-founded and leads. Solar-powered cold rooms keep produce fresh; solar irrigation carries farmers through dry spells without costly diesel; and LYN AI, a WhatsApp-based adviser, guides decisions on planting, pests, irrigation, harvesting and markets.
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Since 2022, Solafam has supported more than 1,500 smallholder farmers in Uganda, 70 per cent of them women. It has helped cut post-harvest losses by 30 per cent and raise household incomes by 28 per cent—figures that mean food saved, school fees paid and livelihoods strengthened.
Passing the Green Baton through the Commonwealth platform: From recognition to reach
“When I looked at discarded bottles, I didn’t see waste—I saw a problem I had known since childhood and a chance to solve it. Like Shifra, who saw possibility in rotten tomatoes, I believe young people can turn local challenges into solutions that protect our environment, create opportunity and restore dignity. Through networks supported by Commonwealth partners, we are bringing the Commonwealth’s vision for environmental resilience to life in our communities,” Stanley said.
The Commonwealth Youth Awards, an initiative of the Commonwealth Youth Programme, help move ideas from recognition to reach. Winners receive seed funding, visibility and access to an international network of policymakers, partners, investors and youth organisations that can help scale their projects.
For Shifra, that platform has carried the realities of food loss—and the promise of youth-led solutions—to audiences across the Commonwealth.
“It is more than a title; it has changed who is listening,” she said. “People who once turned us down now want to work with us. It has opened conversations with governments and given us a stronger platform to show how youth-led innovation can build environmental and economic resilience.”
Shifra hopes to expand Solafam into West and Southern Africa, adapting its technology to different farming communities.
For Stanley, passing the baton to Shifra does not mean leaving the track. Alongside LightEd, he founded Artechubs Nigeria to address educational challenges through technology and Re-build Inc., a hardware research, development and engineering studio working to close Africa’s infrastructure gap.
He also serves on the 23-member International Taskforce shaping the 2026 Commonwealth Youth Forum, taking place from 2 to 4 November in Antigua and Barbuda alongside the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.
Under the theme Investing in Youth Agency: Co-Creating Pathways Towards Shared Prosperity, the Forum will bring together more than 300 youth delegates from five Commonwealth regions. Stanley and Shifra will share how difficult childhood experiences inspired solar-powered, AI-enabled responses—and what their journeys reveal about environmental resilience.
Their recommendations will be presented to Commonwealth leaders, placing youth voices at the heart of resilience-building and shared prosperity. Stanley saw light in discarded bottles; Shifra saw a smarter food system in spoiled tomatoes. Together, they show what becomes possible when young people are trusted, connected and equipped to turn the problems around them into infrastructure their communities can use today.
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