By: Nana
Appiah Acquaye
Frederick Obeng-Nyarko, an
alumnus of the Department of Computer Engineering at Kwame Nkrumah University
of Science and Technology (KNUST), has led his team at Omaya Care to win the
2026 Ghana AI Innovation Challenge at the Ghana AI Summit and Awards.
The winning team received
GH¢25,000 to support the deployment of its maternal health platform, which is
designed to improve postpartum care for mothers in Ghana.
Omaya Care is developing a
postpartum care platform that uses voice calls and WhatsApp to follow up with
mothers after they leave healthcare facilities. The system monitors mothers for
potential warning signs and connects them with a clinician when intervention is
required.
Obeng-Nyarko, co-founder of
Omaya Care, said the recognition reflects the team’s approach of using
accessible technology to address a complex healthcare challenge.
“What makes this win
particularly meaningful to us is how ordinary the engineering is and how hard
the problem is,” he said.
The platform was designed
with the connectivity challenges faced by some communities in mind, allowing
mothers with limited access to smartphones or reliable mobile internet to
receive support through basic phones and voice calls.
Obeng-Nyarko said designing
for communities with inconsistent data connectivity required the team to
prioritise technologies that could function without relying entirely on
smartphone applications.
“Reaching a mother in a
community with patchy data coverage means building for a basic phone and a
voice call, not an app. That is systems thinking applied where it counts,” he
said.
