Episode Details

Almost a decade ago, researchers at Makerere University in Uganda set out to answer a simple question: could Africa build its own technology to measure the air Africans breathe?

In this episode of Clean Air Report Ghana, host Michael Asharley speaks with Professor Engineer Bainomugisha, Professor of Computer Science at Makerere University and Project Lead at AirQo, about how a small research project grew into an air-quality monitoring network spanning cities across Africa. He recounts the years spent developing AirQo's first locally built sensors, the innovative use of motorbikes to map pollution across Kampala, and what the data revealed about the scale of the problem.

Recorded at the Africa Clean Air Forum in Pretoria, the conversation also explores AirQo's use of artificial intelligence, the importance of making air-quality data accessible, and its plans to expand monitoring across the continent.

Clean Air Report Ghana is a collaboration between New Narratives and leading Ghanaian newsrooms. Funding is provided by the Clean Air Fund which had no say in the reporting.