Israel Smart

Growing up amid violence and instability in northeastern Nigeria, Israel’s pursuit of education was anything but ordinary. At 11, after losing his father and surviving a Boko Haram school attack, he made a promise: if he made it out, he would make education accessible for all children, especially those displaced by conflict and poverty.

Today, Israel is a student social entrepreneur, innovator, and founder of two impact-driven ventures OneChild Africa and Smartel – that are transforming the educational and agricultural landscape across Africa.

With OneChild Africa, Israel leads a network of over 1,000 volunteers across six African countries, delivering STEM education, scholarships, and mentorship to more than 50,000 children. The initiative has built four learning centres, facilitated the return of 2,000+ children to school, and distributed education kits in refugee camps and rural villages. OneChild also runs DREAM SPACE, a mobile STEM lab van, and is on a mission to connect 5 million students to free internet by 2030.

Through Smartel, Israel co-invented a low-cost, IoT-enabled hydroponic farming system made from recycled plastic, providing schools and farmers with year-round, climate-resilient food. The venture has trained 4,000 farmers, deployed over 500+ systems, and improved nutrition in drought-affected communities – particularly supporting school feeding programmes where hunger often prevents children from learning.

Israel also developed an AI-powered device that predicts plant pests and diseases, already used by 10,000+ smallholder farmers to reduce crop loss and increase productivity. His innovations have earned him recognition from the World Food Programme, United Nations ECOSOC Forum, Nobel Foundation, and the Ban Ki-moon Foundation, where he serves as a Youth Agri Champion.

A former Speaker of the Nigerian Children’s Parliament, Israel led efforts to pass the Child’s Rights Act in his state, enforcing free quality education for all children under 18, and banning child labour and street hawking. As a result, more than 160,000 children were able to access free education. Israel is also a multiple national and continental debate champion, using public speaking to empower others, and the founder of a campus Debate Academy mentoring youth in advocacy and communication.

Now a software engineering student with a 4.98 GPA and Sigma Fellow, Israel is building Menava, an AI platform that helps obstetricians in low-resource clinics predict maternal health complications before they occur – currently in pilot testing across two countries.

If awarded the Global Student Prize, Israel plans to scale hydroponic farms in schools and build 20 new internet-connected Dream Spaces across Africa – places where innovation, education, and opportunity converge.