AfriLabs, the largest network of innovation and technology hubs across Africa, will participate in the Bridge Africa Summit 2025, hosted by the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P) in Benguerir, Morocco, from July 17–19, 2025. The summit will convene influential voices from across the continent to reimagine innovation, responsibility, and action in shaping Africa’s development future.

As part of the official programme on Friday, July 18, AfriLabs’ Chief Operating Officer, COO, Ajibola Odukoya, will join a high-level panel session titled “Unlocking African Entrepreneurship”, contributing to a strategic dialogue on how to create stronger enabling environments for entrepreneurship across the continent.

The session brings together diverse actors from academia, ecosystem support organizations, and innovation policy to explore the systemic levers that can shift Africa’s entrepreneurial landscape from promise to performance. It will spotlight the roles of universities, government institutions, catalytic programs, and platforms like AfriLabs in building the architecture for scalable, inclusive entrepreneurship.

“Across the continent, entrepreneurs are innovating in high-impact sectors, but without systems to support them, scale remains elusive,” said Ajibola Odukoya, COO of AfriLabs. “This conversation is about unlocking the real value of entrepreneurship through intentional collaboration, aligned investment, and infrastructure that grows with the entrepreneur.”

Drawing from AfriLabs’ work with over 500 hubs in 53 countries, Ajibola will offer practical insights into how innovation ecosystems can:

➜ Facilitate meaningful access to finance and mentorship,

➜ Strengthen collaboration between education institutions and startup communities,

➜ Drive localized policy advocacy that removes systemic barriers to growth, 

➜ Position Africa’s entrepreneurs to compete and lead globally.

AfriLabs’ participation reinforces its mission to create interconnected, resilient ecosystems that support entrepreneurs from ideation to expansion. From capacity building and access to markets to influencing startup-friendly policy, AfriLabs serves as a continental enabler, fostering environments where African innovation can thrive and scale sustainably.

The Bridge Africa Summit’s emphasis on co-creation and innovation aligns with AfriLabs’ vision of entrepreneurship not as an isolated act but as a system-wide effort, involving both public and private actors, local talent, and global partnerships.

UM6P’s leadership in convening this dialogue reflects the growing consensus that innovation must be backed by strong research, talent development pipelines, and policy coherence. The university’s presence in global innovation corridors points to a future where African entrepreneurs engage with the world on equal footing.

This critical conversation also builds momentum toward the AfriLabs Annual Gathering 2025, taking place in Nairobi, Kenya, from October 7–9. Under the theme “Africa’s Innovation Future: Policy, Partnerships & Progress,” the Gathering will be a pan-African platform to deepen these discussions and forge the partnerships required to realize them.

“We are no longer asking whether Africa can innovate; we’re showing how it already is. What we now need are the systems that allow innovation to scale across borders, sectors, and generations,” Ajibola added.

The “Unlocking African Entrepreneurship” session is a timely contribution to Africa’s broader development agenda, one that understands that entrepreneurship is not just about opportunity, but about the ecosystems that enable ideas to become industries.

For more on AfriLabs’ work or to connect during the summit, reach out to comms@afrilabs.com or visit www.afrilabs.com.