Across Africa, millions of people still cannot access the eyeglasses they need to learn, work and participate fully in daily life. Closing this gap requires more optical enterprises that can reach underserved customers with quality, affordable products, and grow profitable businesses while doing so.
That ambition sits at the heart of the 2026 Pan-African Innovation Challenge, hosted by EYElliance's Optical Enterprise Growth Hub. The Challenge invited African revenue-generating optical businesses to propose practical, evidence-backed innovations that could unlock their next stage of growth while expanding access to affordable eyeglasses.
The response was exceptional. EYElliance received hundreds of applications from more than 20 countries, reflecting both the depth of entrepreneurial talent across the continent and the range of ideas being developed to address persistent barriers to access. From mobile delivery and digital operating systems to rural outreach hubs and new franchise models, applicants showed how locally led optical businesses are rethinking the way affordable eyeglasses reach customers.
Selecting twelve semi-finalists and five finalists from such a strong field was no easy task. Each of the businesses below has demonstrated market traction, a credible pathway to scale and a clear commitment to making eyeglasses more accessible and affordable.
The five finalists will compete for up to US$100,000 in catalytic growth capital and receive structured support through the Optical Enterprise Growth Hub. The top three finalists will be awarded catalytic capital to help test their innovation, while the remaining semi-finalists will each receive a free annual membership to the Optical Enterprise Growth Hub giving them exclusive access to optical-specific resources and playbooks, a community of growth-oriented founders, peer learning, and structured investment pathways.
Meet the finalists and semi-finalists:
LNKO
Morocco | Finalist
Website: lnkobrand.com
Established in 2020, LNKO sells prescription glasses, sunglasses and contact lenses online and through optical stores and kiosks in Moroccan cities including Casablanca, Rabat and Marrakech. Its retail network is supported by a central lens assembly and logistics operation.
LNKO is developing a master franchise model to take its affordable eyewear brand into new African markets through experienced local partners. The company has created a franchise package that brings together store design, training, a centralised supply chain and a product range already tested with more than 170,000 customers. The approach could allow LNKO to expand more quickly and with less capital while giving local entrepreneurs the tools to open and operate accessible optical stores.
Optique Optometrists
South Africa | Finalist
Website: optique.co.za
Founded in 2017, Optique Optometrists offers eye tests and eyewear through a network of branches across South Africa. The business pairs optical care with transparent package pricing and flexible payment options.
Optique Optometrists is expanding its innovation, Optique Pro. An internally developed digital platform for managing optical retail operations and customer journeys. The platform brings quotations, lens selection, pricing, customer communication, workflow management and business intelligence into one system, with new AI-enabled functions and customer financing journeys planned. By improving consistency and reducing administrative complexity, Optique Pro is intended to support branch and franchise growth while making the buying experience simpler, more transparent and more accessible.
Anidaso Eye Centre
Ghana | Finalist
Website: www.anidasoeyecentre.com
Established in 2022, Anidaso Eye Centre operates clinics in Akim Oda and Kumasi, alongside an optical laboratory and rural eye care outreach programmes. It provides eye examinations and eyewear, and supplies lenses and other optical products to 13 partner centres across Ghana.
Anidaso Eye Centre is proposing a replicable Vision Centre and Rural Eye Care Program hub that links a permanent clinic with outreach across surrounding villages. The model also uses teacher-led digital screening to identify schoolchildren who need glasses and an in-house optical lab to support faster lens fitting. By combining retail, outreach, school screening and business-to-business lens supply, each hub is designed to extend affordable eye care into underserved districts while building a sustainable local enterprise.
F & C Clear Vision Center
Nigeria | Finalist
Established in 2016, F & C Clear Vision Center operates four eye clinics across Enugu State. Its clinics provide eye examinations, diagnosis, treatment and prescription eyeglasses, complemented by outreach to underserved communities.
F & C Clear Vision Center plans to build a hub-and-spoke mobile refraction network that takes basic eye examinations into trusted community locations such as pharmacies, churches, schools and markets. Prescriptions will be routed digitally to a central optical lab, allowing the business to reach new areas without the cost of opening a full clinic in every location. Its sourcing guarantee is designed to reduce stockouts and help ensure that patients who are diagnosed can receive the glasses they need.
Vision Medix Eyecare
Nigeria | Finalist
Website: visionmedixeyecare.com
Established in 2019, Vision Medix Eyecare provides eye examinations, care for common eye conditions and prescription eyewear through two physical locations and a mobile clinic. It also reaches patients through community outreach, school screenings and workplace vision programmes.
Vision Medix Eyecare's Vision-on-Wheels model uses a mobile unit to bring affordable refraction and eyeglasses directly to rural communities in Niger State. Portable equipment and AI-assisted tools support faster examinations, while remote optometrists review cases through teleoptometry and glasses are produced at the company's central micro-hub. This mobile hub-and-spoke approach is designed to lower delivery costs, reach communities far from fixed clinics and create a repeatable model for last-mile access.
Charis Eye Hospital Limited
Nigeria | Semi-finalist
Website: Facebook page
Established in 2016 and based in Uyo, Charis Eye Hospital provides eye examinations, prescription glasses, treatment for eye conditions and surgical services. It serves individuals and families as well as schools, employers and communities through its clinical and outreach work.
Charis Eye Hospital’s Vision Access Network would establish community vision hubs in pharmacies, churches, schools and government agencies. Pay-as-you-go plans and insurance partnerships would enable people to access eye tests, prescriptions and eyeglasses closer to home without paying the full cost upfront.
Genesis Opticals
Tanzania | Semi-finalist
Website: genesisopticals.co.tz
Established in 2020 and headquartered in Morogoro, Genesis Opticals provides eye screenings, prescription glasses, protective eyewear and low-vision products. It also runs community outreach and supplies optical and ophthalmic equipment to clinics and hospitals.
Genesis Opticals’ Jicho Finance innovation would allow customers to receive prescription eyeglasses immediately and pay for them gradually through mobile money instalments. The digital system would automate customer registration, repayment schedules, reminders and payment tracking, helping to overcome the barrier of upfront affordability.
Doqema
Ethiopia | Semi-finalist
Doqema operates six retail and outreach locations in Ethiopia, serving customers in towns and underserved communities. It provides vision screening, optical consultations, prescription eyeglasses, frames and lenses.
Doqema is developing a Digital Outreach Optical Network that connects mobile vision screening and eyeglass delivery with digital customer, prescription and inventory systems. The model is designed to reduce cost and distance barriers while creating a more efficient and repeatable way to expand into underserved communities.
ZimSmart Villages
Zimbabwe | Semi-finalist
Website: zimsmartvillages.com
Established in 2024, ZimSmart Villages operates ZISO Health, which provides eye screenings, refraction services and affordable spectacles to rural farming and mining communities. Its services are delivered through fixed screening sites, mobile clinics and community outreach, with telehealth support through its wider health platform.
ZimSmart Villages is developing a Digital Health Ambassador model that trains community-based promoters to conduct vision screening and connect people to eye care through mobile clinics, post offices and telehealth sites. Digital tools and specialist telemedicine will help extend affordable services into rural farming and mining communities while reducing travel and turnaround times.
Afriglory Vision (Joly Eyewear Ltd.)
Ghana | Semi-finalist
Website: jolyeyewear.com
Joly Eyewear is a Ghanaian optical retailer offering eyewear, vision testing and prescription lens services through a physical store, online shop and mobile services. Its six-person team serves customers in stores, at home and through workplace and campus visits.
Afriglory Vision’s Joly Opticians Subscription Eyewear Network combines mobile vision teams, digital patient records, tele-optometry and e-commerce to deliver services in schools, workplaces and underserved communities. Its subscription model would allow customers to make flexible monthly payments towards eyeglasses while receiving ongoing preventive vision care.
New Online Optics
Ethiopia | Semi-finalist
Website: www.newonlineoptics.com
Founded in 2018 and formally incorporated in 2022, New Online Optics combines an online eyeglass shop with physical display locations in Ethiopia. Customers can browse eyewear digitally while using its physical locations and affiliate partners to see products in person.
New Online Optics’ Smart Eyeglass Display is a compact store-within-a-store model designed for pharmacies, hospitals and supermarkets. It combines physical frames with virtual try-on technology, prescription support, selected AI-enabled vision screening and real-time inventory systems to make eyeglasses available in convenient, trusted locations.
Kingdom Vision Foundation
South Africa | Semi-finalist
Website: www.kingdomvision-foundation.co.za
Established in 2021, Kingdom Vision Foundation operates two full-time eye clinics in Bloemfontein and provides additional outreach services. It offers eye testing and affordable spectacles to students and low-income communities, with an annual outreach programme in rural Zimbabwe.
Kingdom Vision Foundation proposes a network of solar-powered, container-based clinics supported by centralised lens production. A micro-franchise model would enable qualified optometrists to operate clinics within a standardised system, creating a lower-cost route to expand quality optical services into communities with limited infrastructure.
Supporting the optical businesses that can close the visual divide
The EYElliance Innovation Challenge finalists and semi-finalists represent different markets, business models and routes to growth, but they share a common goal: making it easier for more people to get the eyeglasses they need at a price they can afford.
This matters because no single enterprise or delivery model can close the global eyeglasses access gap alone. Reaching over 1 billion people in low-income countries who need eyeglasses, but don’t have access to them requires a stronger and more diverse optical market, with businesses that can attract investment, strengthen their operations, test new approaches and expand into communities that remain underserved.
Through the Optical Enterprise Growth Hub, EYElliance supports growth-oriented optical businesses with sector-specific tools, operator coaching, performance and data support, investment preparation and a peer community. The Innovation Challenge adds catalytic capital to help promising enterprises test the practical innovations that could accelerate their growth, and generate lessons that can strengthen the wider sector.
We congratulate all our finalists and semi-finalists, as well as every entrepreneur who applied and shared their vision for a more accessible optical market. Their ideas demonstrate what becomes possible when local knowledge, entrepreneurial ambition and the right growth support come together.
Stay tuned as the Innovation Challenge progresses and we announce the three winning enterprises.
For more information on EYElliance's Optical Enterprise Growth Hub visit: https://sites.google.com/eyelliance.org/hub/home
