About Power Afrika Labs – PowerAfrika Labs

Our Awesome Story

PowerAfrika Labs was founded in 2018 through an invitation to design Mutare’s urban park into a smart park by Leonard Muyambo and a group of built environment professionals. We went on to develop Mutare Meikles Park and Chidzere Taxi Rank and in 2021 Patience Muchawa joined the team as a co-founder and Chief Sustainability Officer. The company was founded in response to the challenges they faced with cities, namely the lack of sustainable infrastructure. Faced with an opportunity to close the infrastructure gap in housing, mobility, and green spaces, we decided to open up PowerAfrika Labs, a research, design, and build lab.

After attending Europe’s top 100 universities, Leeds and Lund University, where they majored in Sustainable Cities, we realized the need for knowledge transfer in African cities. We saw a potential opportunity to leapfrog the current state of infrastructure in Africa by using new technologies and approaches.

Our team grew from sustainability designers to software engineers, architectural, civil and structural engineers, quantity surveyors, project managers, and investment analysts. The focus area of the lab has been refined to project preparation activities, where we prepare infrastructure projects from idea to bankability.

PowerAfrika Labs is committed to using innovative and sustainable solutions to address the infrastructure challenges facing African cities. We believe that by working together, we can create a better future for all Africans.

OUR MISSION

Inspiring global sustainable cities through smart, accessible, and green infrastructure development.

WHAT WE DO

Ideation

Prototyping

Design

Construction

Our Skills

We take an environmentally and human-centered approach in our research, design, and construction. Our well-trained teams of sustainability experts are both creative and innovative.

Design

Sustainability

Construction

Our Fantastic Founders

Leonard Tatenda Muyambo “SaMuyambo”

Founder & CEO

A biomedical scientist turned sustainability researcher, SaMuyambo studied Biomedicine. After university, he attended Cornell University as a teaching fellow for Argumentation and Public Speaking. There, he honed his critical thinking skills, which allowed him to venture into entrepreneurship with an eye for sustainable infrastructure development. SaMuyambo then attended Lund University in Sweden, where he obtained a Diploma in Sustainable Cities. SaMuyambo founded a couple ventures under PowerAfrika Labs including the PAL smart bench an AI bench promoting approachable and accessible AI which won the 2022 POTRAZ Universal Services Fund Innovation first prize and received investment to develop the MVP and scale the project. He holds a certificate in Business Finance from EBU Luxemburg.

Leonard Tatenda Muyambo

Patience Ruvimbo Muchawa

Co-Founder & Chief Sustainability Officer

As an IFC World Bank EDGE certified Green Buildings Expert, Ruvimbo is a passionate sustainability engineer, she studied Civil Engineering and obtained a Master’s in Sustainable Cities from the University of Leeds as a Chevening Scholar. She has worked in various industries, including energy, residential development, and sustainability-related projects. She is also a 2021 United Nations Local Pathways Fellow. Ruvimbo heads PowerAfrika Labs as the Chief Sustainability Officer, responsible for ensuring that the lab meets the needs of its clients and the environment.

Our Fantastic Team

Our Fantastic Advisory Board

Pierre-Yves PANIS

Advisory Board Member PowerAfrika Design

Pierre-Yves is a design expert with 30 years of professional experience in both developed and emerging economies. He is passionate about using design to improve people’s lives, and he has a deep understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing design businesses in Africa.

In his previous role as Chief Design Officer at Philips Signify, Pierre-Yves led a global team of designers in creating innovative and sustainable lighting solutions. He has also held senior design positions at Orange, Legrand, and Moen.

In addition to his corporate experience, Pierre-Yves is also a strong advocate for the use of design in development. He founded the non-profit organization Design Co Operation, which worked to improve urban informal sector production in Zimbabwe.

Michael White

Advisory Board Member PAL Homes 3D Construction Printing

Michael holds a Bachelor’s degree in Applied Economics and Management from Cornell University and a Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology from Alliance Theological Seminary. After spending five years as a Risk Arbitrage trader on Wall Street, Michael served as the Executive Director of a faith-based nonprofit in New York City for almost a decade. He and his family relocated to Texas in 2022, where Michael was tasked with launching the Crain Impact Fund and Crain Family Foundation, which work to create unique solutions for affordable housing with new and novel construction technologies.

In addition to his experience in finance and social impact, Michael is also an investor in 3D construction technologies. He is passionate about using 3D printing to build affordable housing and other infrastructure in Africa. Michael’s expertise in 3D construction printing will be invaluable to PowerAfrika Labs as we work to develop and implement new solutions for affordable housing in Africa.