The Kinshasa stove

After all these fascinating AfriGadgets from Maker Faire Africa, here’s another invention as seen by our friend Cedric Kalonji, a Congolese journalist in Kinshasa (D.R.C.):

Kinshasa_stove

For the lack of a cheap power supply in the City of Kinshasa, smart mechanics came up with this little stove that speeds up combustion by adding a little electric fan (hidden inside this tube that looks like being part of a flat spring). The fan itself is powered by (Chinese!) batteries and with the burning of charcoal, this quick stove obviously isn’t the greenest solution. But it works and does the job for those who will otherwise have no alternative.

Cedric also mentions on his blog post that it’s difficult to identify the inventor of this device. A perfect example of how low-cost technology easily gets adopted and/or modified (and why intellectual property rights are still a major issue in many places).

4 thoughts on “The Kinshasa stove”

  1. If anyone wants to try out an engineering task, making gas from sawdust for powering lamps, do get in contact.
    It is quite easy and if you are really skilled the wood gas can even power a generator!

    Graham

  2. The World’s Clark Boyd speaks with Erik Hersman, founder of a blog called AfriGadget, which profiles African stories of ingenuity.AfriGadget is run by a team of editors that also have personal blogs. Interested readers can sign up for the RSS feed and even purchase AfriGadget merchandise online.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *