In our continuous drive to support local innovation communities, AfriLabs has welcomed 27 innovation hubs into our network. This takes the largest pan-African network of innovation enablers from 320 hubs in 51 African countries to 347 hubs in 52 African countries and over 200 cities.
We recently marked our 10 years anniversary, celebrating our strides, reflecting on our journey and planning for the future. The growing interest by hubs across the continent to join the AfriLabs network is a good sign that we are getting some things right. We are happy to have these organisations align with our vision to build a thriving innovation economy in Africa. At AfriLabs, we believe that to scale support for innovation across the continent, local innovation ecosystems must be empowered with access to funds and knowledge, and be given the platform to collaborate with each other. That’s why we are relentless in our call for more hubs to join us.
The new members admitted this quarter include: PAUWES Entrepreneurship Hub (Algeria), Afkar (Tunisia), Hadina Rimtic (Mauritania), Founders Factory Africa, (South Africa), Grid Innovation and Incubation Hub (Rwanda), MCI Media Hub (Uganda), StartHub Africa (Uganda), Founder Square Ventures, (Kenya), Ifakara Innovation Hub (Tanzania), Eko Innovation Centre (Nigeria), The Nest Innovation Technology Park Ltd (Nigeria), Iba Ajie (Nigeria), Renaissance Innovation Lab (Nigeria), Blue Sapphire Hub (Nigeria) and FutureLabs (Nigeria).
“We take our admission process very seriously. Every hub being admitted into the AfriLabs network has shown that they are catalysts for innovation and entrepreneurship in their respective communities.” Moetaz Helmy, AfriLabs Board Chair said.
“We have heard and watched over the years the excellent work done by AfriLabs to push the bounds of entrepreneurship in Africa to create a thriving continent. We are excited to join this vast network of supporters of innovation. We believe AfriLabs will equip us with the necessary tools to continue this great work in our community.” said Ayuk Etta, Executive Director of Mountain Hub, Cameroon about their admission.
Other new members include: InnoHub (Ghana), Impact Hub (Côte d’Ivoire), KMindz (Cape Verde), Chad Innovation Hub (Chad), Sahel Green Hub (Chad), Silikin Village (DR. Congo), Kinshasa Digital (DR.Congo), Kobo Hub (DR. Congo), Mountain Hub (Cameroon), Team@solutions (Cameroon), The Workshop (Congo) and Société d’Incubation Numérique du Gabon (Gabon).
“I am pleased that we are now part of AfriLabs. This will enable us to collaborate with hubs across the continent and contribute our quota to developing enterprises, increasing funding for startups and driving employability in Africa. AfriLabs is the most prestigious community of tech hubs in Africa and we are proud to take our place amongst the continent’s elite.” Edwin Ajogun the Country Director of Eko Innovation Centre commented about the centre joining AfriLabs.