WeeklySA_AdminSOLUTIONS: Innovators, start-ups and university teams invited to develop smart mobility solutions that could reshape transport in South Africa’s busiest province…
By WSAM Reporter
Innovators, entrepreneurs and university research teams across South Africa are being invited to help tackle Gauteng’s growing transport challenges through a new national cleantech innovation competition offering more than R20-million in prizes and development funding.
The Technology Innovation Agency (TIA), in partnership with the Network for Global Innovation (NGIN), Start-Up Culture, and Wits University’s Tshimologong Digital Innovation Precinct, has launched the Gauteng leg of the National CleanTech Innovation Challenge (NCIC) 2026, with a focus on Smart Mobility solutions.
Applications opened this week and will close on April 21 2026.
The competition aims to identify scalable cleantech innovations capable of transforming how Gauteng’s 15-million residents and the country’s freight move through South Africa’s busiest economic corridor.
Traffic congestion in the province costs the economy billions of rand every year through lost productivity, increased fuel consumption and environmental damage.
The Smart Mobility challenge forms part of the Gauteng provincial government’s Smart Mobility 2030 vision, which seeks to modernise transport systems and reduce congestion while improving environmental sustainability.
The challenge calls for solutions in several areas, including electric and alternative-fuel vehicles, intelligent transport systems, last-mile delivery technologies, ride-sharing and multi-modal platforms, non-motorised transport, logistics optimisation, transport data analytics and commuter safety technologies.
“Gauteng’s transport challenges are immense, but so is the innovation potential in this province,” said Vusi Skosana, interim head of the Global Cleantech Innovation Programme South Africa (GCIP-SA) Project Management Unit.
“NCIC 2026 is designed to find and accelerate the smart mobility solutions that can get Gauteng moving cleaner, faster and more inclusively.”
The competition forms part of the Global Cleantech Innovation Programme (GCIP), supported internationally by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF). Since 2014, the programme has supported numerous South African cleantech ventures through incubation, acceleration and post-acceleration support.
Winning innovations will receive substantial financial backing and development support.
The national prize pool totals R5-million, with R3-million awarded to the first-place winner and R2-million to the runner-up.
In addition, each province will award a R1-million provincial prize, ensuring that innovative projects can be piloted and deployed across the country.
• Beyond prize money, participants will also have access to:
• Advanced acceleration programmes for 30 semi-finalists;
• At least R5-million in blended funding for pilot projects and real-world demonstrations;
• Incubation and mentorship support from technical and business experts;
• Access to investors and mobility industry partners, and
• Specialist intellectual property guidance.
Opportunities to deploy pilot technologies on Gauteng’s transport network
Mark Harris, CEO of the Tshimologong Digital Innovation Precinct, said Gauteng provides a unique testing ground for future urban mobility solutions. “Gauteng is a high-density testing ground for the future of sustainable urban mobility,” Harris said.
“Through NCIC 2026 we are surfacing world-class cleantech solutions — from EV infrastructure to intelligent data analytics — that address the global challenge of decarbonising rapid urbanisation.”
He added that the programme offers innovators a pathway to move their ideas from concept to commercial deployment, while helping position South African innovation within the global green economy.
The Gauteng challenge forms one of nine provincial competitions within the NCIC 2026 programme. Other provinces will focus on cleantech priorities such as waste-to-value technologies, regenerative agriculture, renewable energy, mining land rehabilitation and clean port logistics.
Applicants must be South Africa-based innovators or organisations developing scalable smart mobility solutions aligned with Gauteng’s transport priorities.
Applications can be submitted online at: www.ncic-sa.org/gauteng. The closing date for submissions is 21 April 2026.
