A Kenyan entrepreneur has made history again after he was named one of three winners of the inaugural Gorbachev awards.
Mr Evans Wadongo, who is also a CNN 2010 Hero, joined the founder of CNN Ted Turner and Timothy Berners-Lee, credited with inventing the World Wide Web in receiving the award at a gala event in London Wednesday.
The three were personally selected by Mikhail Gorbachev, the former leader of the Soviet Union, and honoured during the event to celebrate his 80th birthday at the Royal Albert Hall.
“These three people have each, in their own way, changed the world for their fellow men and women in ways which affect all our lives,” Gorbachev said in a news release.
Mr Wadongo used a solar-powered lantern to transform the lives of thousands of rural-based Africans, who have no access to electricity.
The lamp has become a clean, healthy alternative to wood fires as a source of light.
His desire to provide sustainable energy to communities was borne while studying Electrical Engineering at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology.
The awards have been organised into three categories reflecting reforms Gorbachev undertook as the Soviet leader, CNN reported.
Berners-Lee was given the award for perestroika, or reform, for inventing the World Wide Web in 1989, changing the way the world shares information.
The award for glasnost, or openness, was given to Turner, who helped transform the world’s media with his 24-hour global news operation.
Mr Wadongo, 25, won the award for contributions to modern science and technology, or uskoreniye.
“Each and every one possesses the ability to make a difference and the Gorbachev Awards have been established to those people who achieve this and to provide inspiration to all of us to try,” said the former Russian president and Nobel Peace Prize Winner.
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