Monthly Update: October
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Résumé Des Activités De Septembre À Afrilabs
Chers AfriLabbers, Septembre est venu avec de nombreuses opportunités pour les hubs, les entreprises et les entrepreneurs au sein et en dehors de la communauté AfriLabs. Catalytic Africa, un fonds de contrepartie de l’African Business Angels Network (ABAN) et de AfriLabs qui vise à renforcer les startups africaines, les hubs d’innovation et les investisseurs providentiels tout en fournissant des résultats d’impact aux bailleurs de fonds institutionnels, est toujours en cours. En savoir plus et postuler ici . Dans le cadre de notre dévouement continu au développement des capacités, le programme de renforcement des capacités de AfriLabs (ACBP) organisera des ateliers physiques dans 10 pays africains. L’atelier physique de l’ACBP offrira l’opportunité de réseauter avec les parties prenantes de l’écosystème africain de l’innovation, d’assister à la rencontre annuelle de AfriLabs 2022 et d’être formé par des leaders chevronnés de l’écosystème pendant l’atelier. L’application a commencé en septembre et est fermée pour les hubs en Zambie ; les autres pays africains peuvent encore postuler jusqu’au 28 Octobre 2022. En savoir plus et postuler ici . Le Centre mondial sur l’adaptation, la Banque Africaine de Développement et les Fonds d’investissement pour le climat ont lancé la deuxième édition du défi #YouthAdapt Solutions d’adaptation pour les jeunes africains, un concours annuel et un programme de récompenses pour les entreprises dirigées par des jeunes (50 % dirigées par des femmes) dans le cadre de l’Africa Programme d’accélération de l’adaptation Programme phare YouthADAPT. Le concours invite les jeunes entrepreneurs et les micro, petites et moyennes entreprises (MPME) d’Afrique à soumettre des solutions innovantes et des idées commerciales susceptibles de favoriser l’adaptation et la résilience au changement climatique en Afrique. Les innovateurs sélectionnés auront accès à 100 000 $ chacun en subventions, entre autres avantages. Les candidatures se terminent à 23h59 le 4 Octobre 2022. Postulez ici . BongoHive, membre du consortium de la Rencontre Annuelle de AfriLabs Annual, a repris la page de la Rencontre Annuelle de AfriLabs Annual sur Instagram pendant une journée. Ils se sont présentés et ont expliqué à quel point ils attendaient avec impatience le #AAG2022. Suivez la page officielle de la Rencontre Annuelle de AfriLabs sur Instagram @afrilabs_ag. Si ce n’est pas le cas, inscrivez-vous pour le #AAG2022 ici . 6 équipes d’innovation d’Afrique Orientale et Australe ont été sélectionnées pour rejoindre le camp d’entraînement UNFPA EUP HackLab. Le camp d’entraînement est une gamme d’activités, du renforcement des capacités en affaires, des compétences techniques et de développement d’entreprise pour passer de l’idéation à l’étape d’incubation, et la connexion aux ressources, etc. Le programme vise à soutenir les jeunes innovateurs ciblés dont les solutions en herbe peuvent apporter un changement percutant pour les filles à risque de grossesses précoces et cherche à mettre fin aux grossesses précoces en Afrique Orientale et Australe. Pour conclure le mois, la série 9 de la Semaine d’Apprentissage des hubs s’est tenue du 26 au 30 Septembre 2022. Ce fut une semaine perspicace d’Apprentissage sur la façon de créer, gérer et développer des startups prospères. Gardez vos yeux ouverts pour la série 10! C’était pour Septembre !
La communauté AfriLabs se déploie dans un nouveau pays – la Mauritanie et compte 27 nouveaux membres
Dans le cadre de nos efforts continus visant à soutenir les communautés d’innovation locales, AfriLabs a accueilli 27 hubs d’innovation dans son réseau. Ainsi, le plus grand réseau panafricain de facilitateurs d’innovation passe de 320 hubs dans 51 pays Africains à 347 hubs dans 52 pays Africains et plus de 200 villes. Nous avons récemment fêté notre 10e anniversaire, où nous avons célébré nos progrès, examiné notre parcours et planifié l’avenir. L’intérêt croissant des plateformes du continent à rejoindre le réseau AfriLabs est un bon signe car cela prouve que nous sommes sur la bonne voie. Nous sommes heureux de voir ces organisations se rallier à notre vision de bâtir une économie de l’innovation florissante en Afrique. Chez AfriLabs, nous pensons que pour accroître le soutien à l’innovation sur le continent, il faut doter les écosystèmes d’innovation locaux d’un accès aux fonds, aux connaissances, et leur donner la possibilité de collaborer les uns avec les autres. C’est pourquoi nous ne cessons de demander à d’autres hubs de nous rejoindre. Les nouveaux membres admis ce trimestre sont PAUWES Entrepreneurship Hub (Algérie), Afkar (Tunisie), Hadina Rimtic (Mauritanie), Founders Factory Africa, (Afrique du Sud), Grid Innovation and Incubation Hub (Rwanda), MCI Media Hub (Ouganda), StartHub Africa (Ouganda), Founder Square Ventures, (Kenya), Ifakara Innovation Hub (Tanzanie), Eko Innovation Centre (Nigéria), The Nest Innovation Technology Park Ltd (Nigéria), Iba Ajie (Nigéria), Renaissance Innovation Lab (Nigéria), Blue Sapphire Hub (Nigéria) et FutureLabs (Nigéria). “Nous prenons notre processus d’admission très au sérieux. Chaque hub admis dans le réseau AfriLabs a prouvé qu’il était un catalyseur de l’innovation et de l’entrepreneuriat dans leurs communautés respectives.” Moetaz Helmy, Président du Conseil d’Administration de AfriLabs, a déclaré. “Nous avons entendu et observé au fil des ans l’excellent travail réalisé par AfriLabs afin de repousser les limites de l’entrepreneuriat en Afrique pour créer un continent prospère. Nous sommes ravis de rejoindre ce vaste réseau de défenseurs de l’innovation. Nous pensons qu’AfriLabs nous fournira les outils nécessaires pour poursuivre ce travail remarquable dans notre communauté”, a déclaré Ayuk Etta, Directeur Exécutif de Mountain Hub, au Cameroun, à propos de leur admission. Parmi les autres nouveaux membres figurent : InnoHub (Ghana), Impact Hub (Côte d’Ivoire), KMindz (Cap Vert), Chad Innovation Hub (Tchad), Sahel Green Hub (Tchad), Silikin Village (RD Congo), Kinshasa Digital (RD Congo), Kobo Hub (RD Congo), Mountain Hub (Cameroun), Team@solutions (Cameroun), The Workshop (Congo) et la Société d’Incubation Numérique du Gabon (Gabon). “Je suis heureux que nous fassions désormais partie de AfriLabs. Cela nous permettra de collaborer avec les hubs à travers le continent et de contribuer notre quota au développement des entreprises, à accroître le financement des startups et à stimuler la création d’emploi en Afrique. AfriLabs est la plus prestigieuse communauté de hubs technologiques en Afrique et nous sommes fiers de faire partie de l’élite du continent”. Edwin Ajogun, Directeur National de l’Eko Innovation Centre, a déclaré par rapport à l’adhésion du centre à AfriLabs.
Moetaz Helmy est le nouveau Président du Conseil d’Administration de AfriLabs au moment où AfriLabs élit ses nouveaux membres du Conseil
Nous avons le plaisir d’annoncer l’élection de nouveaux membres au conseil d’administration de AfriLabs. AfriLabs a maintenant une nouvelle présidente, un nouveau secrétaire, un nouveau représentant francophone et un nouveau membre du conseil d’administration. Lors de l’Assemblée Générale Annuelle de AfriLabs 2021 à Abuja, au Nigéria, la communauté AfriLabs a exercé ses droits en tant que membres inscrits du réseau et a élu les nouveaux membres du conseil d’administration de AfriLabs. Cette élection est intervenue après une saison de campagne très interactive, puisque les candidats désignés se sont engagés auprès de la communauté et ont partagé leurs projets pour faire avancer l’organisation. Le nouveau Président du Conseil d’administration de AfriLabs est Moetaz Helmy, le co-fondateur de District Spaces et kmt house au Caire, en Egypte. Moetaz Helmy est un entrepreneur Africain en série et le fondateur de multiples projets de développement et d’entreprises aux niveaux national et régional. Helmy a obtenu une licence à l’Université Française d’Égypte en 2010, ainsi qu’un master à l’Université de Mulhouse, tous deux en ingénierie mécanique et de production. En 2013, il a obtenu un master en administration des affaires de l’Université de Nantes, en France. Il est actuellement le Directeur Exécutif de Rollo Africa, l’un des plus grands projets de simulation d’entreprise sur le continent, soutenu par l’Union Africaine, le PNUD et AfriLabs. Moetaz était auparavant le Secrétaire du Conseil avant d’être élu Président du Conseil. Il succède à Rebecca Enonchong qui a été Présidente du Conseil pendant deux mandats (2017-2021). “Je suis enthousiaste à l’idée de passer le relais à Moetaz qui, au fil des ans, a montré sa passion pour l’innovation sur le continent. Je sais que la communauté s’attendra à un certain niveau de continuité et à une meilleure représentation de ses membres au sein du conseil d’administration”, a déclaré Rebecca lors de la réunion de passation de pouvoir. Parmi les autres membres élus du conseil d’administration figurent Linda Kwamboka, du Kenya, au poste de Secrétaire du conseil. Elle était auparavant membre du conseil d’administration de 2019 à 2021. Elle est également membre du conseil d’administration de MFarm et de ‘iLab Africa. Elodie Nonga, fondatrice de WETECH, Cameroun, a été élue en tant que Représentante Francophone au Conseil d’Administration de AfriLabs. Steve Tchoumba du Cameroun (Directeur d’ActivSpaces) a également été élu membre du conseil d’administration aux côtés de Daniel Chinagozi du Nigeria (fondateur de Innovation Growth Hub) qui a conservé son siège. Kudzai Mubaiwa du Zimbabwe (co-fondateur d’iZone Hub) a également conservé son siège de Trésorière du conseil d’administration de AfriLabs.
AfriLabs proudly announces Ethiopian Airlines as its Official Airline Partner for the AfriLabs Annual Gathering
We are excited to announce Ethiopian Airlines as the official airline partner for the 2021 AfriLabs Annual Gathering. Operating at the forefront of technology, the airline has become one of Ethiopia’s major industries and a veritable institution in Africa. They command a large market share of the pan African aviation industry including the daily and double daily east-west flights across the continent. Ethiopian Airlines currently serves 100 international and 21 domestic destinations operating the newest and youngest fleet in Africa. We are pleased to inform you that we have received special discounts for the Gathering’s guests flying business and economy class on Ethiopian Airline to Abuja for the AfriLabs Annual Gathering 2021. To access these discounts, please click this link. The AfriLabs community and team wish everyone a safe trip and we hope to see you soon in Abuja from the 27th-29th October 2021. Not registered yet? Do so here.
Promoting African Start-ups for the Continent’s Urban Future: Smart Cities Innovation Programme launched by Rwandan-German Development Cooperation
Africa is rapidly urbanising. The United Nations predict that Africa’s population will grow faster than in any other part of the world, with over half of the continent’s populace residing in urban areas by 2050. To direct this rapid urban growth, technological solutions play an increasingly important role. Smart cities and communities, as evidenced in large-scale pilot projects in Nigeria, Kenya and Rwanda, can help ensure Africa’s urban future is socially inclusive and green. In face of this endeavour, the Rwandan Ministry of ICT and Innovation and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH – on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) – launched the Smart Cities Innovation Programme (SCIP) on 16-17 September 2021 together with multiple local and international partners, including Siemens, Volkswagen, Amazon Web Services, Jasiri, Viktoria Ventures and more. Over six months, the SCIP supports African start-ups to scale innovative products which can boost the potential of urbanisation, ensuring smart cities achieve inclusive and sustainable economic growth. By scaling innovations for smart cities, the programme concretely contributes to Africa’s urban transformation in line with the Sustainable Development Goals. The SCIP uses Rwanda’s pilot initiative towards green urbanisation, Green City Kigali, as an application case for smart city solutions in Kigali. By testing and adapting their solutions under realistic market conditions start-ups work on a viable business opportunity and explore the potential of the Rwandan market.
AfriLabs Elects a New Board Member
The AfriLabs Annual General Meeting held on the 7th October 2020 and it was the first Virtual General Meeting due to the COVID-19. During this meeting, a new board member, Takunda Chingonzo, Founder of Tech Village Zimbabwe was elected to assume the board seat that was vacant after Nekesa Were transitioned to a new role as the Director of Strategy at the AfriLabs Secretariat. Other nominees for this role included were Prince Bonney, CEO iCODE, Gilbert Junior Buregyeya, Cofounder/Programs Manager at Makerere Innovation & Incubation Centre, Youssouf Simbo Diakite, Founder & CEO of ADYFE and VAS, Khalid Ali, Chairperson, Impact Hub Khartoum at the end of the election conducted, Takunda Chingonzo emerged as the winner. The fifth edition of the AfriLabs Annual Gathering kicks off on Monday 12th October, 2020, kindly register here, to join the largest gathering of major players in the African Tech and Innovation Ecosystem.
Country in Focus: Kenya “East Africa’s Money Magnet”
To highlight the ever-growing and diversified community of the AfriLabs network, we are pleased to introduce our new series on our community and their impact in their respective countries. Today’s country in focus, Kenya, is arguably the second-largest innovation ecosystem on the continent and hosts 2 of the 5 founding member hubs of the AfriLabs network, iHub and Nailab. The swift rise of the Kenyan ecosystem can be attributed to several catalysts. In October 1995 the first leased line connection was established in Kenya providing Internet for the first time. At 32 Kbps, Kenya was at last connected to the Internet, and the dream of information sharing became a reality. Shortly thereafter and in quick succession, two ISPs serving the commercial and personal markets—Africa Online (Prodigy USA) and Form-Net—started offering service, and for the first time, competition entered the market. By the end of 1995, the two each had a 64-Kbps link and 100 lines to serve their clientele. This opened a floodgate of other operators, and by the end of 1995, more than 10 were advertising for services and reported accounts totalled approximately 5000. The organisation of the technology and innovation ecosystem through bodies like Technology Service Providers of Kenya,TESPOK in 1999, Skunkworks Kenya in around 2006, and the Kenya ICT Action Network,Kictanet, in around 2007, meant that communities of innovators and service providers were beginning to self regulate, challenge each other and collaborate. Forward-thinking public sector officials like Bitange Ndemo were also critical catalysts for the ecosystem. Ndemo pushed for various ICT policies and projects such as the installation of the undersea submarine cables, the development of business process outsourcing industry, the reduction in mobile termination rates, initiating Kenya Open Data and so on. Well-known M-Pesa bridged the gap between banked and unbanked and made payments easier contributing to a foundation for several impactful service delivery products across the country. The arrival of the undersea cable in 2009 began to bring down the costs of connectivity making the internet more accessible to Kenyans and lowering a critical barrier to innovation. 2010 saw the beginning of the rise of the hubs with iHub, Nailab and others. Kenya currently boasts close to 70 innovation centres with 23 of those being AfriLabs members. Among them are Lake Hub in Kisumu, Eldo Hub in Eldoret, Villgro in Nairobi and Sote Hub in Voi. Lake Hub was started in 2013 as one of the first tech innovation and incubation hubs running outside of Nairobi. Through Lake Hub’s programs and activities over 5,000 youths have benefited directly from technology skills workshops, startup mentorship, entrepreneurship training programs, and networking events. The Lake Hub Academy has trained 120 young professional software developers, 55 of which have gotten employment as a result of the training. This has unlocked USD 1,170,000 annual recurring income for the youth. 5 have started their own startups and 40 are involved in freelance work. Lake Hub’s Incubation program has provided business incubation services to 50 entrepreneurs enabling the launch of 25 startups solving across sectors including the circular economy and agri-food. The program has also unlocked financial investment for 9 startups. Using digital technology, Sote Hub trains students at rural high schools and out of school youth (often marginalized with less opportunity for career progression or technology) on jobs, career preparedness; support them establish startups where they create products/services and test with real customers. Over the last four years, Sote Hub has trained 10,000 youth/students, provided job matching to 700, incubated 40 startups with over 60% being women-led. Villgro Africa is one of our newest members. They are an early-stage business incubator and impact investor that seeks to support startups with a global social impact focus in the African region. Villgro’s portfolio is a blend of medical diagnostic devices, healthcare systems and technologies. Since 2015, Villgro has supported over 20 startups in getting over USD 700,000 in investment and in impacting over one million lives. Finally, Eldo Hub, which began operations in 2017 has focused on offering skills and employment to youth, women and micro, small and medium enterprises in the rural areas. To date, EldoHub has impacted over 3000 youth and women between the age of 18 to 35 years through workshops and events, community, incubation and capacity building. They have supported over 1,150 youth through training and capacity building, conducted over 100 events and established 12 partnerships and collaborations. They have also supported 597 women and girls, and 68 entrepreneurs through three 12-week innovation workshops. Through their jobs placement and digital apprenticeship program, Eldohub has placed 40 junior tech professionals to 40 SMEs/Techstartups/Scaleups or traditional businesses looking to digitize their business processes. It’s apparent that one of the strengths of Kenya’s ecosystem is the decentralisation of innovation by strong impactful innovation centres across the country. In 2019, this ecosystem achieved yet another great feat by coming together to form the Association of Startup and SMEs Enablers of Kenya (ASSEK) thereby ensuring that the right support for innovation and innovators and entrepreneurs is within reach and is coordinated for greater impact. AfriLabs currently has a partnership with ASSEK to establish a general framework of cooperation to facilitate collaboration between the parties. It’s worthwhile to note that AfriLabs is also working closely with Strathmore University, a leading academic institution in Kenya to develop a Full Hub Management Certification Course for the AfriLabs Capacity Building Program. Kenya is indeed a leading hub for innovation and entrepreneurship in Africa and innovation centres are greatly contributing to this along with growing investor interest and a wider ecosystem jointly working to coordinate its work. There is a lot of potentials that we look forward to exploring at AfriLabs. To learn more about our community of innovation centres impacting Africa, subscribe to our newsletter here.
Opening remarks by Anna Ekeledo, Executive Director, AfriLabs at the Rollo Africa Masters Final Presentation
Good evening everyone and Welcome to the final Rollo Masters event. I would like to first acknowledge the presence of representatives from the African Union and UNDP, our partners on this project. Also, the presence of our judges, AfriLabs member hubs and other stakeholders present and the participants. Welcome to the final presentation by finalists of the Rollo: Future of African SMEs program. First, a little background about AfriLabs: We are a growing network organisation of 240 innovation hubs in 48 African countries. We have a vision of a thriving innovation economy in Africa, powered by our community. We believe that Africa will solve its problems by harnessing local solutions by Africans, and we see entrepreneurship and innovation as the platform where this can happen. So we support innovation hubs (which are support systems for innovators and entrepreneurs in local communities) by helping them build capacity on best practices, providing access to funding and partners, and fostering collaboration between themselves and with other ecosystem stakeholders. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is still unravelling and we are still responding to these challenges that we never saw coming. The growth of the African economy is mostly reliant on our entrepreneurs heading small and medium enterprises. They are responsible for tackling local problems with innovations and their business activities, providing employment to locals and hereby empowering micro-economies across the continent. The pandemic and lockdowns drove many of these businesses to survival mode, with many letting go of staff and some even closing up. Governments, Enterprise support organisations, development agencies and other stakeholders intervened with several support programmes and funding with many still running. At AfriLabs, we launched a number of programmes to support the ecosystem. Rollo Africa, in partnership with the AU and UNDP, and driven by Kmt house (District Spaces) in Egypt, Savannah Hub in Sudan, Jokkolabs in Senegal, Activspaces in Cameroon and iZone Hub in Zimbabwe. Rollo is a business simulation program dedicated to inspiring and supporting small African enterprises facing challenges after the COVID-19 outbreak. The program provides a platform for African entrepreneurs to create ideas and test new strategies in a simulated and risk-free environment. We need to understand how businesses across the continent make decisions in peculiar situations such as during a pandemic and we need to empower them to make better ones. Rollo is first a learning opportunity for every stakeholder and then a support system for the entrepreneurs affected by the pandemic. Today we hear from the finalists, feedback from the judges and successful businesses will emerge. There is a lot to unpack from the weeks of bootcamps in Senegal, Sudan, Cameroon, Zimbabwe and Egypt, and I believe we are in for a very educating time. We appreciate the support of our partner organizations, the African Union and UNDP. Their sense of obligation for development on the continent brought this project to life. Hopefully, this is just the beginning of more Rollo programs in Africa. We also acknowledge the dedication of AfriLabs hub members in the participating countries, led by Moetaz Helmy of District Spaces as the Executive Director of Rollo, bootcamp facilitators and of course the participating businesses. So gentlemen and ladies, let’s dive into the business of the day. Thanks!
Promoting African Start-ups for the Continent’s Urban Future: Smart Cities Innovation Programme launched by Rwandan-German Development Cooperation
Africa is rapidly urbanising. The United Nations predict that Africa’s population will grow faster than in any other part of the world, with over half of the continent’s populace residing in urban areas by 2050. To direct this rapid urban growth, technological solutions play an increasingly important role. Smart cities and communities, as evidenced in large-scale pilot projects in Nigeria, Kenya and Rwanda, can help ensure Africa’s urban future is socially inclusive and green. In face of this endeavour, the Rwandan Ministry of ICT and Innovation and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH – on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) – launched the Smart Cities Innovation Programme (SCIP) on 16-17 September 2021 together with multiple local and international partners, including Siemens, Volkswagen, Amazon Web Services, Jasiri, Viktoria Ventures and more. Over six months, the SCIP supports African start-ups to scale innovative products which can boost the potential of urbanisation, ensuring smart cities achieve inclusive and sustainable economic growth. By scaling innovations for smart cities, the programme concretely contributes to Africa’s urban transformation in line with the Sustainable Development Goals. The SCIP uses Rwanda’s pilot initiative towards green urbanisation, Green City Kigali, as an application case for smart city solutions in Kigali. By testing and adapting their solutions under realistic market conditions start-ups work on a viable business opportunity and explore the potential of the Rwandan market.