RAD Labs

Shonaquip Social Enterprise

RAD Labs

Bridging the rural assistive tech gap—testing devices to ensure user safety, clinical impact, and long-term use.

Cape Town, South Africa

ZAF

Hybrid of for-profit and nonprofit

Globally, more than 2.5 billion people require assistive technology (AT), yet nearly 1 billion lack access. Among them, wheelchair users in LMICs face serious health risks due to poor-quality, inappropriate, or ill-fitting equipment. In many rural African settings, imported or donated wheelchairs break down quickly under rugged conditions, as they are not designed for these environments. Poor fit, lack of repairability, and environmental unsuitability lead to high rates of device abandonment—resulting in wasted resources and harmful consequences for users. Without functional mobility, people with disabilities face severe barriers to healthcare, education, and livelihoods—deepening cycles of poverty and exclusion, especially in rural and peri-urban areas. This crisis is driven by a lack of locally relevant product standards, testing facilities, and regulation. With no systems to validate safety, procurement often prioritises cost over quality, overlooking the needs of medically underserved populations. RAD Lab addresses this gap by establishing Africa’s first real-world testing facility for assistive devices, tailored to local conditions and grounded in user needs. It generates context-specific standards and empowers African engineers, clinicians, and users to drive design and evaluation—creating data and accountability to influence procurement and ensure access to safe, life-enabling technologies.

To address innovation and access gaps within Africa’s assistive technology and MedTech landscape, Shonaquip Social Enterprise (SSE) established the Centre for (inclusive) Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE)—a people-centred innovation hub housed within its Cape Town production facility and embedded in a national ecosystem of clinical, community, design, and engineering teams. At the heart of the CIE is RAD Labs, the foundational platform that powers the Centre. RAD Labs plays a pivotal role in developing, testing, and refining context-appropriate health technologies. It is creating novel test methods to simulate the realities of rural and offroad use—making the durability and safety of assistive devices more measurable and directly informing user-centred design for low-resource settings. Aligned with national priorities (DSTI Innovation Fund, MedTech Master Plan, NSI transformation strategy) and global frameworks (G20 AT initiatives, WHO GATE), the CIE supports inclusive innovation while building local capacity. Through the CIE and RAD Labs, early-stage innovators, technicians, and youth with disabilities are supported with mentoring and coaching, anchoring technology development in equity and inclusion. This solution speaks directly to the MIT Solve Global Health Challenge by increasing access to safe, life-enabling technologies and driving systemic innovation across Africa’s health and rehabilitation sectors.

The RAD Test Lab and Centre for Innovation & Entrepreneurship (CIE) at Shonaquip serve a broad community across Africa’s medtech and assistive technology landscape, focusing on improving health outcomes in low-resource and rural settings. Primary beneficiaries are children and adults with disabilities who rely on AT for dignity and independence. In under-resourced areas, device failure leads to pressure sores, postural deformities, and hospitalisation. RAD ensures real-world testing and safety validation, enabling better mobility, participation, and developmental outcomes—especially for children—while easing caregiver burden. Entrepreneurs, students, and small enterprises access the CIE for mentorship, prototyping, and standards guidance, helping them develop context-appropriate, user-driven innovations with higher chances of scale. Local manufacturers, technicians, and AT practitioners use RAD’s evidence to improve product quality and strengthen local supply chains, reducing reliance on unsuitable imports. Clinicians and community workers gain confidence in prescribing reliable devices, improving therapy outcomes and user trust. Policymakers, donors, and procurement officers rely on RAD’s data to make informed, ethical investment and policy decisions—reducing waste and increasing impact. Together, RAD and the CIE create safer, more inclusive, and efficient AT ecosystems—advancing health equity, fostering local innovation, and strengthening systems to better serve medically underserved populations.