Exciting Opportunities Within The Afrilabs Network This December
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Success Story From AAG
The AfriLabs Annual Gathering (AAG) has been known to spark collaboration between key players in the African innovation economy, leading to enhanced impact on the continent by all the parties involved. Stakeholders such as hubs, corporates, governments and the like have always reaped huge benefits from this flagship event by the AfriLabs community. For for hubs across Africa, the AAG has been known to facilitate the attainment of organisational goals. One such success story was recorded by TechQuest STEM, Lagos, Nigeria. TechQuest STEM is a non-profit organisation that provides education technology content, resources and tools for the delivery of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), ICT and digital literacy programs to young Africans at scale. Having participated in several impactful programmes offered by AfriLabs including but not limited to AAG 2021, AfriLabs virtual meetups, AfriLabs learning weeks and listening tours, TechQuest STEM has improved its onboarding processes and metrics for evaluating impact while constantly reviewing innovative ways to ensure that a feedback loop is included in their programs. Furthermore, TechQuest STEM participated in the AfriLabs Capacity Building Programme (ACBP) after which the hub recorded the following major achievements: establishing regional and cross-regional collaboration in Africa with other AfriLabs member hubs; increasing its community of mentors across 13 countries to over 90 mentors; impacting over 700 female entrepreneurs (500 in Nigeria and 200 in South Sudan) in the Female Entrepreneur Support Program (FESP), a collaborative initiative by TechQuest STEM Academy and Junub Open Space; and winning one of the AfriLabs virtual meetup grant awards on SDGs and COVID 19 among others. AfriLabs continues to offer a diverse range of impactful products to stakeholders in the African innovation community, and the AAG 2022 is another opportunity that promises to be as loaded as ever. Do not miss out on this one. Register here: www.afrilabsgathering.com and attend the Gathering physically or virtually to leverage the knowledge shared.
The State Of The Innovation Policy Environment In Nigeria
Learnings from the Nigerian Innovation Policy Dialogue by AfriLabs and UNDP Accelerator Labs by Amadou Sow (UNDP Accelerator Labs), Serge Ntamack (AfriLabs), Tessy Okolo (AfriLabs), Tayo Akinyemi (UNDP Accelerator Labs) and Joshua Omena .A. (AfriLabs). Currently, it is difficult to inventory policies in Africa, and as a result of this, we have fragmentation and siloing in policy development, analysis and understanding. This sets the stage for the relevant dialogues on our innovation policies. We need to know where we are in terms of the progress made in creating a supportive policy environment for startups. Discussing innovation policy is worthwhile given Africa’s potential, its ecosystem and its creativity that makes it resilient despite the enormous challenges the continent faces. The low inventory of policies creates a dissonance in enabling startups across Africa. While some African countries have implemented policies that aim to help startups, many have not. This presents an opportunity for alignment between stakeholders and increased support for innovation. In the presence of a thorough dialogue (or series of dialogues) between stakeholders in a country’s innovation ecosystem, the right policies will be an appropriate response, incisively dealing with the identified block roads. These opportunities for learning and improved support for the innovation ecosystem are glaring especially when we examine the macroeconomic outlook in Africa, alongside the booming startup industry. According to the World Bank, the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic was predicted to slow growth in Sub-Saharan Africa by -3.3% in 2020, pushing the region into its first recession in 25 years. However, there will be a sluggish and multi-speed recovery with significant variation across countries partly owing to higher commodity prices and private consumption and investment as confidence strengthens and exports increase. Simultaneously, funding for Africa’s startups is at a record high, with Nigeria and Kenya serving as the hotspots for Venture Capital investments including $307 million and $305 million raised in 2020. Further, it is predicted that capital funding for African startups will reach a record of $2.25 billion and $2.8 billion in 2021. The role of policy in the recovery and sustainable growth of the innovation economy is crucial and worthy of interrogating conversations. The UNDP Accelerator Labs, through its network of 91 labs covering 115 countries around the world, including 35 in Africa, partnered with AfriLabs, the largest pan-African network of 347 technology and innovation hubs across 52 African countries and the diaspora. This partnership aims to advance the development agenda in Africa – through capacity development, linking policy and practice to advance innovation as a driver for development. To achieve the ambition of this partnership, both organisations identified national dialogues on innovation policies as a good first step. The first edition was held online in December 2021 and focused on Nigeria. The conversations attempted to address various issues around innovation policies in the West African country, through the eyes of the stakeholders on ground. The stakeholders that were present included Nigerian government representatives, local innovation hubs managers, startup founders, local investors, corporate bodies, development agencies and others. The dialogue on the innovation policies in Nigeria provided a space for an inclusive discussion and policy exchange among key and diverse stakeholders, on how innovation policy can best serve development and help achieve sustainable goals. It focused on the following priority areas: Innovation and SDGs Startups Policy framework and prospects Innovation and achieving the SDGs It was highlighted during the conversations that we need to improve how we communicate about the SDGs and what we are doing to achieve them. The conversations emphasized the role of collaboration and aligning of interests between private and public sectors, and the need for connecting the national role of the Innovation Support Network (ISN) and the continental role of AfriLabs. Stakeholders also suggested a seat for innovators at various levels of government and policy-making, both the regional and country level. To build an enabling environment for innovation and ideas that tackle the SDGs, an inclusive and bottom-up policy development approach should be encouraged. Sustainable and decentralized funding and infrastructure development should also be a must. Governments and other stakeholders should support local solutions, develop local talent and encourage youth engagement while integrating innovators into decision-making and technical regulatory and overseeing bodies. We ought to also prioritize measuring and demonstrating impact and reinforce the role of the R&D function within the ecosystem. Supporting startups’ sustainability The government needs to make more effort to understand the startup environment. In the words of one of the stakeholders during the dialogue: “The government uses the same hammer that it applies on the big companies, on the startups. They correct the baby with the same method as the adult”. We need to ease the bureaucracy for startups and support them with incentives. For example, the new postal tax on logistics companies (i.e. 2% of total revenue applied to transportation startups to help the national post office) is not how you encourage growth in the logistics startup scene. We also need to encourage the geographical distribution of the installation of hubs and innovation poles. This will help reduce the drainage of resources towards the large economic and political centres and give all towns and cities in the country a chance to grow their local innovation economy. Mobilization and diversification of funding sources We need more local funding opportunities. Another idea shared was that the state should play the role of a guarantor for access to credit to remove certain barriers such as requiring a track record of 3 to 5 years of activity. Emerging sectors, not just Fintech, need to be supported and focused on, especially sectors like agriculture, healthcare, transportation, trade, real estate and the creative industry. It was also noted that the evolution of skills is required for startup sustainability. Stakeholders were encouraged to embrace negotiation, diplomacy, and a single and united voice to engage the Government on the needs of startups. Policy framework and prospects We need to agree on common objectives. What is an inclusive policy
Celebrating Africa’s Trade Genius and Mapping the Future of Intra-African Trade
Africa has a rich history of trade that we should celebrate and learn from. As Africans eager to do business across the continent, we stand on the shoulders of our ancestors who perfected trade across the region and the continent, like Mirambo of the Nyamwezi of Tanzania, and King Kaleb of Aksum of Ethiopia and Eritrea leading well-known trading civilisations that transacted with their neighbours as well as foreigners. Think of our ancient and famous trading cities such as Kilwa Kisiwani and Sofala off the Eastern coastline. Indeed, the art and practice of trade that is rooted in African genius and history, influenced the whole world. From the Mutapa kingdom’s trade, that stretched from Zimbabwe across to Mozambique, to the city of Gao in West Africa whose trade routes reached Cairo in North Africa, Africans traversed deserts, rivers, forests and oceans in pursuit of business solutions for Africa and the world – think of the Sahara trade route that was part of the original silk road – reaching ancient Afghanistan, Iraq and China! “We must tell these stories because this is where we will find ourselves. And to know that we are descendants of innovative, successful, culturally shrewd business people.. from craftspeople to diplomats, to engineers to doctors to philosophers, to educationalists. Colonialism robbed us of these stories, it robbed us of our dignity and we only get this dignity back by realising that our history began long before the scramble for Africa”. Mona Nya Our organisation, infrastructure, communication and ability to regulate how we traded, what we traded and with whom we traded were key centuries ago. This enabled us to successfully manufacture goods at production centres that we built, and trade them within our communities and with traders from China, Europe and so on. This was our trade genius. We always understood the value of intra African and global trade and for a long time, we did it effectively. However, there were failures along the way, which saw Africa lose her raw materials, put up boundaries and lose trust in her own people. AfriLabs, Mozilla and Omidyar Network were honoured to host Brian Kagoro, Mona Nya, Adetola Onayemi, Bismark Addo and José Luis Tavares Semedo for a conversation that reflected on this rich history and shared ideas for how we could collectively ensure successful modern-day intra African trade. Watch Brian Kagoro’s keynote here. We concluded that to set us up on the right path to successful intra-African trade, one of the more important issues to determine was our larger ‘WHY’ to keep us on mission and educate our movement, interactions and decisions. “We are in a generation where hundreds of years of miseducation and schooling have taught our people that when they approach the global market they do so from a point of inferiority, or catch up or trying to mimic that external world. So in the absence of a larger WHY, a purpose that drives us, a consciousness, a self-belief and self-confidence, we are likely to be caught up in what we are seeing as Europe and American myths”. – Brian Kagoro The future of intra African trade is in our hands and its success is dependent on the actions of Pan Africans from all spheres from financial and development institutions, to civil society, corporates, innovators, entrepreneurs, storytellers, historians, national governments and so on working towards Africa’s economic development, self-sufficiency and dignity. For their part, Africa’s innovators continue to show their capacity to innovate world-class products and services and build world-class businesses. Acquisitions, taking companies public, successful fundraises, improved livelihoods, digitalisation across African entities, demand for skill and knowledge, regional and Pan African scale of businesses and steady increase of local funders for local businesses are a testament to the fact that the African innovation ecosystem has been gearing up for Pan African domination and is ready for a new wave of exponential growth fueled in part by the supportive structure that AU member states have now promised to provide through the African Continental Free Trade Area. Historically, we are a people willing to put in the work to contribute to long term development whether technological or economical. At AfriLabs we showcase this in the way our member hubs and partners preserve our history, protect our innovations, produce new innovations continuously and provide holistic support to innovators across the continent. Members like the Media Innovation Network that is supporting creative storytellers and Baraza Media Lab that’s working to strengthen Kenya’s media ecosystem are ensuring that innovation stories are told well and preserved. Association of Startup and SME Enablers of Kenya, Ghana Hubs Network and Innovation Support Network have been at the forefront of leading policy agendas by ensuring that the needs and rights of the innovator are top of mind when crafting national innovation policies. These networks are also amplifying the voices of their hub members to increase national collaborations and catalyse sustainable growth of their national innovation ecosystems. Hubs across the continent are supporting manufacturing processes and connecting customers to hardware, engineering and manufacturing companies to increase Africa’s capacity to produce finished goods. Check out this Nigeria Hardware Ecosystem Map championed by Clintonel Innovation Centre among others. Gearbox on its part offers prototyping facilities, training in manufacturing, fabrication and design as well as mentorship, investment opportunities and community development. Our partners Liquid Technologies are working with hubs like Innovation Village, Bongo Hive and others by offering critical infrastructures like high-speed connectivity and cloud services, and supporting gaming and IOT as avenues for African innovators to create. AfriLabs member hubs across the continent are providing holistic support to innovators across the continent by offering open, safe spaces for community-led innovation, mentorship, care to ensure mental health, programs to develop entrepreneurship skills and grow businesses, and connections to private and public sector actors. Our hubs are now working towards facilitating cross border trade by creating amongst them a masterpass that gives entrepreneurs business support in 347 hubs spread across 52 African countries, and this network continues to
African Union Digital and Innovation Fellowship: What We Have Learnt So Far
by Taiye Salami, Project Officer, and Stephanie Titcombe, Project Associate at AfriLabs In the third quarter of 2021, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)’s vision to support the mandate of The African Union (AU) via its commission (the African Union Commission), through the GIZ DataCipation project, materialized into what is now the AU Digital and Innovation Fellowship Program. The aim of the program is to identify and deploy highly competent technology innovators from the African continent to units and organs within the African Union headquarters as resident fellows. The mandate of the fellows is to understand the system within their assigned units, identify data and process management challenges and lead the development and the deployment of sustainable and innovative technology solutions. AfriLabs as the implementing partner designed and managed the project’s implementation which includes but is not limited to the identification and deployment of the fellows to their respective units in Addis Ababa, Banjul, and Accra in Ethiopia, The Gambia and Ghana respectively. After a few months of doing this, we have a couple of insights to report on our experience so far. Here are some of the important lessons we have learnt so far: Get stakeholder buy-in fast The level of success the program has recorded so far can be traced to the support the fellows have received from the African Union Commission and GIZ DataCipation Teams to ensure that they hit the ground running immediately after resumption. The experience has confirmed what we already factored into our design; that the buy-in of all relevant stakeholders from top-to-bottom is critical to the performance and the success of the fellows in an institution like the African Union Commission. The abundance of talents on the continent One of the key objectives of this program is to source for and identify the best talents that the continent has to offer. It took us several months to do that but based on the profile and quality of applications received, we can state for a fact that there is an abundance of young talents in Africa. Be iterative but ensure to accommodate for existing systems and processes We discovered very quickly that we had to find a balance between what we are used to (which is to understand the challenges, context and the affected, co-design a solution with all relevant stakeholders, then commence implementation and monitor from start to finish) and what it takes to effectively function and deliver at the African Union Commission. There are reasons why the existing systems and processes are in place and to better innovate in such an environment, a thorough understanding of the status quo especially during implementation is required. This lesson prompted the training and encouragement of the fellows to not just be agile but to also respect and leverage existing systems and processes. Leverage an inclusive approach Africa is a continent of diverse countries, cultures and languages but we have one common interest; the growth, development, independence, and sustainability of the continent. To ensure the inclusion of eligible young data and technology enthusiasts across Africa, we designed and implemented a non–barrier application and review process that factored in gender, geographical location, and language were critical parts of the review and selection process. The review and selection process also leveraged three of the most widespread African Union languages: Arabic, English and French, which resulted in over 700 applications from across the continent, and a merit-based selection process in assessing the applicants. This approach ensured that none of the applicants from across the region suffered discrimination based on gender, religion, or political affiliations. The entire process produced an equal spread of male and female fellows for the program. We expect to learn more in the coming weeks on how to plan and execute an impactful pan-African programme, so stay with us as we keep you updated on the activities of the pilot edition of the fellowship.
AfriLabs @ 10: The thinking behind our new visual identity
AfriLabs: The First Decade The 21st century has seen rapid technological innovation that uniquely addresses African needs. The innovations cut across multiple sectors. These include banking, healthcare, travel, education, manufacturing and many more. Before 2011, tech hubs across Africa could work on their own. They however lacked an organized platform on which to network, collaborate, and share knowledge. This is the vacuum that AfriLabs’ founders sought to fill. From five tech hubs in 2011, AfriLabs today is a network organization of 300 innovation centres across 51 African countries. This network has supported African innovation hubs in multiple ways. AfriLabs has made it easier for members to communicate, and thereby share knowledge and best practices. They are also able to co-pilot initiatives and collaborate on projects with relative ease. This increases efficiency and goes a long way in the fulfilment of AfriLabs’ mission: ‘To support innovation hubs and their communities, to raise high potential entrepreneurs that will stimulate economic growth and social development in Africa.’ This being the 10th year of AfriLabs, the team met to ponder on how to make the next ten years even more remarkable for the community of tech hubs. These discussions and brainstorming sessions brought to the fore the need to rebrand and thus began the journey of defining how the new look and feel of AfriLabs will be. The Second Decade A crucial aspect of the deliberations revolved around defining the pillars (themes) that would form the basis for the rebrand. We had to grapple with pillars that resonate with the community of innovation enablers all over Africa yet stay true to AfriLabs’ mission and vision for the next 10 years. These pillars had to offer room for the growing needs of the brand yet offer a smooth transition to a brighter and seamless look and feel for AfriLabs. We described AfriLabs with some of the following adjectives: trustworthy, transparent, excellence, ubuntu, hub-centric, Pan-African, innovation among many others. Of the long list that came out of the sessions, a smaller team sat down to condense them into three main pillars. Pillar 1: Community A word that we consistently used during the rebrand brainstorming sessions was, “Community”. We wanted every innovation hub in Africa that is looking for an organization like ours to feel represented. We wanted all Africans in the innovation and entrepreneurship space and those in the diaspora, to feel like part of the community. At the heart of this pillar are Ubuntu “I am because we are” and Pan-Africanism “a movement that believes in the unification of people of African descent because of their common interest”. These two values guide us to make decisions that always benefit our community. Therefore, our identity revamping efforts must clearly capture this pillar and its subsets. Pillar 2: Innovation We could not hold back from expressing the joy of seeing innovators leveraging the support system of AfriLabs’ member hubs to execute ideas and later emerge as leading entrepreneurs. A great example is, 3W, a Dakar-based innovator with Jokkolabs, one of our members in Senegal. 3W invented Wizili, a gaming platform for Facebook and has created hundreds of jobs in Senegal. Stories like 3W’s are the reason we support tech hubs in various ways including funding, collaborative efforts and driving impact through ensuring that all the work they do is measurable and drives change at scale. With the above in mind, AfriLabs appreciates the changing needs of African tech hubs and intends to adjust accordingly in the coming decade. Pillar 3: Knowledge Sharing Evidently, when trying to find specific knowledge about the African innovation space and/or best practices to support innovation, there is not a lot of information available. Spotting this need, therefore, we saw it fit to increase our knowledge output by providing a reliable platform for both quantitative and qualitative research about the African innovation space and trends on how to enable innovation on the continent. A sort of illumination that Africa is not a dark continent, on the contrary, it is a continent full of innovative ideas by Africans that address the needs that are distinctively African. We organise the Hubs Learning Week (under the AfriLabs Capacity Building Programme being carried out thanks to AFD’s support through the Digital Africa seed fund) and other workshops/masterclasses to provide a platform for experienced innovation enablers in the community to share from their wealth of knowledge. Further, we represent the largest Pan African network of technology and innovation hubs and we have access to on-the-ground experiences that help us build high-quality research. That is why in 2020 we partnered with the Internet giant Mozilla to conduct research aimed at better understanding the African tech innovation ecosystem and identifying new product ideas. The fruits of this research will aid Mozilla’s efforts to reinvest within the African tech ecosystem and support local innovators with scalable ideas that have the potential to impact across the continent. We have also had an interesting series of research activities and dialogues that have revealed interesting insights with partners such as Djembe Insights and KTN Global Alliance. Looking into the next 10 years, therefore, we agreed that knowledge sharing will form a significant part of AfriLabs’ service offering. When we support innovation hubs, when we share quality knowledge and when we put our community first, it means we care. Care causes us to work in a community, it enables us to share knowledge inside the community and to innovate around the problems in our community. The Brand Identity Direction The next step for the team was choosing a logo to represent AfriLabs’ new look and feel. This was not a walk in the park as all the first draft logos presented made sound arguments but ultimately, one carried the day based on the teams’ votes, for the following reasons: Aesthetic We were inspired by the Zulu and Maasai neck ornaments as they demonstrate our Pan Africanism, which is one of our values, and our continent-wide reach. This would create the basis for
“At AfriLabs, we have seen resilience in the face of unprecedented disruption” – Anna Ekeledo, Executive Director, AfriLabs
The year 2020 brought with it a plethora of emotions, experiences, and social, economic, political, and health events mainly influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic. A number of us suffered loss and to those I say, in solidarity, our hearts continue to be with you and your families as you navigate into the year. In spite of all of this, we are incredibly proud of the efforts of our community members, especially innovation hubs across the continent. At AfriLabs, we have seen resilience in the face of unprecedented disruption. Every day in the past year, we worked with our community members who have stepped up to the challenge to support businesses across Africa navigate the negative effects of the pandemic; and build innovative solutions leveraging digital technologies to support governments, organizations, and society to increase access to healthcare, products, and services needed. To properly showcase our impact in 2020, we have created a concise report of our activities in the last year where we saw the power of our community shine through. We now believe more than ever that if we work together, we can overcome anything. We can build, grow, and achieve our vision of an Innovation Economy in Africa, driven by the power of our community. We are a resilient people and this report showcases our stories, through the voices of our team, our members, partners, and everyone who has worked with us or been impacted by us last year. This year, AfriLabs will be 10 years old and we will be celebrating and reflecting on the strides of the Innovation Ecosystem in Africa. If you have been part of our story, we would like to say a big thank you! If you haven’t joined us in building the Africa of our dreams…well, let’s make it happen in the new year 2021. Download the 2020 AfriLabs impact report here. Have an amazing 2021, Anna Ekeledo Executive Director, AfriLabs
Our stand on targeted police brutality against tech communities
A speech delivered by Anna Ekeledo, Executive Director, AfriLabs at the 2020 AfriLabs Annual Gathering. Good morning to everyone here today. To our innovation hub members logged in from all over Africa and our diaspora members from all over the world, we are really excited and grateful to have you with us today. We are one large family and we have supported each other through the years in the work we do building an innovation-driven economy in Africa and particularly this really tough year with the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Thank you! Good morning to all our partners, funders, friends and larger community of innovators, entrepreneurs and startups from across over 47 African countries and beyond. We welcome you today. Before we move on the main programme for today and hand over to our Board Chair to give the Official Opening Address, I would like to draw your attention to the ongoing situation in Nigeria. We young people in Nigeria and all over the world are calling for the end of the Nigerian Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), a corrupt unit of the Nigerian police. Over the weekend, unfortunately, our peaceful protests have been met with violent responses from the police, which has led to the deaths of 9 protesters including a 10-year-old boy, with many more arrested or missing. Why is this important to talk about on this platform? Because young people, including those within the Nigerian tech and creative communities, might be facing harassment by a police officer (or more) and tend to be targeted for moving about with laptops, smartphones, looking casually dressed, or even successful. They have been searched, robbed, brutalized, gone missing, and killed for no reason!! At AfriLabs, our vision is an innovation-driven economy in Africa, driven by the power of our Community. As such, we cannot be silent when our community members are being killed by police brutality in Nigeria or any other African country. I call on everyone who cares about the growth, safety and lives of our young people in Africa to speak up on these heinous crimes against our people and make a call that – and I quote – hashtag #SARSMustEnd! Thank you! Now I will hand over to Rebecca Enonchong, Board Chair of AfriLabs for her Official Opening Remark. From the time of the speech was made to the time of the publication at 12 October 2020, another death allegedly by the police has been recorded at the protests. Read all you need to know about police brutality and the Nigerian Tech Ecosystem here.
The Impact of Covid-19 on the Nigerian Innovation Ecosystem
The Covid-19 pandemic brought the world to a standstill. How did the pandemic impact Nigeria’s tech ecosystem? And what can be done to guarantee future resilience? KTN Global Alliance and AfriLabs – A synergy Early in March 2020, Africa’s Covid-19 cases by country were in the single digits, but by mid-month those numbers had spiked, leading the World Health Organisation to sound an alarm. This has led many within the African innovation ecosystems to look for ways to address the impacts of the pandemic. In order to track the impact of the pandemic on the innovation ecosystem in Africa, AfriLabs and KTN Global Alliance worked together to deliver a rapid analysis of innovation response to the Covid-19 pandemic, with focuses on Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa. Our research looked into the impact of the pandemic on the innovation ecosystem, the response to it, the success and failures, and the opportunities to strengthen the African innovation ecosystem. What has been the main impact of the pandemic? The impact of the pandemic in Nigeria is similar to the impact in South Africa and Kenya – the two other focus countries. Nigeria was among the first countries in Sub-Saharan Africa to identify Covid-19 cases and has since implemented strict measures to contain the spread of the virus. From the onset, enormous effort went into healthcare, ensuring that more people got tested and treated through existing and purpose-built infrastructure, especially in Lagos. As a way of cushioning the effect of the strict measures, the Federal Government of Nigeria rolled out palliative measures for targeted groups, focusing on supporting the basic needs of the poorest – more people outside of the formal system were hit devastatingly by the lockdown. On the education front, the education sector was closed physically and resumed digitally (through e-learning) where possible. Some state governments launched television and radio programs while some private schools were able to continue following a remarkable transition to e-learning. However, the greater majority of schools were not able to transition to e-learning due to the “digital divide” in Nigeria where major parts of the society lack digital skills and access to the internet and affordable data. Many businesses that could provide all or part of their services digitally continued operations while the rest were brought to a complete standstill. Some major organisations closed down for good, while many others laid off staff out of necessity and in an effort to save their overall businesses. Examples of such were innovations in the tourism and entertainment sector. What are the lessons learnt? Despite the fact that the Nigerian innovation ecosystem was hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic, some sectors were able to adjust rapidly. The education sector is one (albeit a small portion of the market). There was also a drive towards medical care gear in the manufacturing sector. SMEs and entrepreneurs that had the option to adjust their plans and turn their business models to a full or partial online service were the ones that succeeded. While those that felt overwhelmed, bet on a quicker return to normalcy or required an up close and personal relationship to serve their client failed or nearly failed. The specific impact on innovation funding The immediate impact on innovators was far less funding available, especially to the already struggling early-stage startups. Furthermore, the prevailing uncertainty meant that businesses turned away from their growth strategies towards newly defined “survival strategies” resulting in fewer opportunities for the innovators, entrepreneurs and SMEs to access institutional funding. What barriers and opportunities did stakeholders identify? The key weaknesses recognised by stakeholders include limited funding (particularly for early-stage and pivot innovations), lack of access to digital channels (resulting from a lack of access to affordable internet and data), lack of digital literacy and lack of accessible business mentorship and support. While the Nigerian innovation ecosystem eventually responded by providing many of the above support to innovators, shortcomings exist in reach and timeline of provision. Read about the impact of COVID-19 on the Keyan Innovation Ecosystem. What direction should future research and analysis take? Startups need models to help them better forecast their short to medium term fiscal situations during emergencies, as well as help in making quick shifts and alterations in response to them. Many startups struggle to get a firm grasp of financial numbers and how they will evolve with emergencies, changing economic conditions and consumer behaviours. Support organisations can help by providing technical assistance around financial modelling and data-based decision making. Furthermore, future research and analysis into business support methods to improve or at a minimum maintain the channelling of funds to early startup entrepreneurs in emergency times and for critical survival pivots would be helpful. Also critical is the analysis of infrastructure, access to data, business coaching and mentorship as well as governmental policies required to fuel the continuous growth of entrepreneurs and innovators in the local ecosystem in emergency and post-emergency times in Nigeria. Recommendations towards greater resilience Given the extent of the economic impact of the pandemic, there is the need to implement other recovery strategies for future resilience. Resilience is as much a tool for persisting during a crisis as it is for thriving. Now, more than ever, programme design and intervention strategies for players within the innovation ecosystem must be intended at assisting them to build resilience in the immediate to long-term. Implementing the following recommendations would aid such resilience. Greater access to flexible and responsive financing support. Increased digital literacy and access to affordable data. Greater resilience through targeted policy design. Identify and facilitate value-driven partnerships. You can view a slide presentation which analyses the innovation response here. About KTN Global Alliance Africa KTN Global Alliance Africa is a six-year project co-funded by the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) through the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF), and with the strategic partnership of Innovate UK to drive networking activities that can help foster long-lasting, strategic partnerships between Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa, the UK and across
The Impact of Covid-19 on the Kenyan Innovation Ecosystem
An overview of the challenges Kenya has faced following the disruption of the Global Pandemic of 2020. The first Covid-19 case in Kenya was confirmed by the Ministry of Health in Nairobi on 12th March 2020. This was followed by a period of lockdown of major cities with economic and social activities mostly brought to a halt. But specifically, how did the pandemic impact Kenya’s innovation ecosystem? And what can be done to assure future resilience? KTN Global Alliance and AfriLabs – A synergy The economic realities of the pandemic have led many within the African innovation ecosystems to look for ways to keep their innovations alive, with varying degrees of success. In order to track the impact of the pandemic on the innovation ecosystem in Africa, AfriLabs and KTN Global Alliance worked together to deliver a rapid analysis of the innovation ecosystem’s response to the pandemic in Kenya. Our research looked into the impact of the pandemic on the innovation ecosystem, the response to it, the success and failures and the opportunities to strengthen the Kenyan innovation ecosystem. What has been the main impact of the pandemic? The impact of the pandemic in Kenya is similar to the impact in South Africa and Nigeria – the two other focus countries. The initial spread and uncertainty around the nature of the virus resulted in the implementation of a months-long nationwide lockdown by the government. A huge effort went into healthcare, ensuring large scale testing and treatment through existing and purpose-built infrastructure. Large scale economic support was made available, with a focus on supporting the basic needs of the poorest. Many businesses and organisations had to adapt to digital purchase and delivery of goods and services, while the rest failed or temporarily suspended operations. What are the lessons learnt? At the most basic level, all businesses have had to adapt to the new climate, with remote working the new way of the world. In Kenya, we found strong reciprocal support between the International community and government/public bodies. NGOs and Charities also worked effectively with the international community to address the impact of the virus. We found important lessons that should form the basis for future responses to emergencies. There is evidence of a stronger digital education system and a drive towards medical care gear in the manufacturing sector. We found major failings in the ability of many small or startup businesses to respond to the restrictions occasioned by the virus. Stakeholders identified lack of funding for them to execute timely pivots, lack of access to digital channels (resulting from a lack of access to affordable internet and data), lack of digital literacy and lack of accessible business mentorship and support. The innovation ecosystem eventually responded by providing many of the above support, but for many, it was too late. Specific impact on innovation funding In Kenya, significant funding from government and ecosystem support organisations were almost immediately redirected to feeding arrangements and the supply of food packages to the poorest of the poor. The immediate impact on innovators was far fewer funds available, especially to the already struggling early-stage startups. Furthermore, the prevailing uncertainty meant that businesses turned away from their growth strategies towards newly defined “survival strategies” resulting in fewer opportunities for the innovators, entrepreneurs and SMEs to access institutional funding. What direction should future research and analysis take? Innovators need skills and tools to forecast their short to medium-term fiscal situations and assess changes to these predictions in almost real-time to make quick shifts and alterations. Many startups struggle to get a firm grasp of these numbers and how they will evolve with changing economic conditions and consumer behaviours. Support organisations can help by providing technical assistance around financial modelling and data-based decision making. Also, future research and analysis into business support methods to improve or in the minimum maintain the channelling of funds to early-stage entrepreneurs in emergency times and for critical survival pivots would be helpful. Critical is the analysis of infrastructure, access to data, business coaching and mentorship as well as governmental policies required to fuel the continued growth of entrepreneurs and innovators in the local ecosystem in emergency and post-emergency times. Recommendations towards greater resilience Given the size and scope of the economic impact of the pandemic, there is the need to implement certain strategies for future resilience. Resilience is as much a tool for persisting during a crisis as it is for thriving. Now, more than ever, programme design and intervention strategies for players within the innovation ecosystem must be intended at assisting them build resilience in the immediate to long-term. Implementing the following recommendations would aid such resilience. Greater access to flexible and responsive financing support. Increased digital literacy and access to affordable data. Greater resilience through targeted policy design. Identify and facilitate value-driven partnerships. You can view a slide presentation which analyses the innovation response here. Also, read about the impact of COVID-19 on the Nigerian Innovation Ecosystem. About KTN Global Alliance Africa KTN Global Alliance Africa is a six-year project co-funded by the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) through the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF), and with the strategic partnership of Innovate UK to drive networking activities that can help foster long-lasting, strategic partnerships between Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa, the UK and across sub-Saharan Africa. In doing so, it aims to accelerate innovations that promote economic growth and job creation. Learn more about KTN Global Alliance here: www.ktn-uk.org/programme/africa.