U.S. Department of State and AfriLabs Partner to Address Climate Crisis and Foster Entrepreneurship
Marrakech, Morocco, June 2, 2023 – The United States Department of State’s Office of Global Partnerships (E/GP) and AfriLabs signed an MOU at the GITEX Africa event in Marrakech, forging a partnership to address the climate crisis and promote entrepreneurship in Africa. During her speech, Dorothy McAuliffe, Special Representative from the Office of Global Partnerships, described the collaboration with AfriLabs as a significant step toward building 21st-century U.S.-Africa public-private partnerships. Through this collaboration, both organisations aim to support the Coalition for Climate Entrepreneurs (CCE) initiative, which focuses on nurturing startups and entrepreneurs driving climate solutions in developing nations. “We are excited to join forces with the U.S. Department of State in our shared mission to empower entrepreneurs and drive sustainable change,” said Anna Ekeledo, Executive Director of AfriLabs. “This partnership will create opportunities for climate-focused startups in our hub community across Africa to access expertise, capital, and global markets.” Under the MOU, the U.S. Department of State and AfriLabs will collaborate on various programs, including the U.S. Climate Ops and Partnership Opportunity Delegations (PODs), to connect climate entrepreneurs with resources and targeted opportunities. Also, the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) and BridgeUSA will assist promising climate entrepreneurs. The partnership will focus on four pillars: engagement, expertise, capital, and deployment. By fostering collaboration, providing skills and knowledge, attracting investment, and implementing climate solutions, the partnership aims to make a significant impact. The MOU is effective immediately and will continue until the completion of the partnership goals, with the option for extension. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… For media inquiries, please contact: U.S. Department of State Ashwood Heffern – Heffernja1@state.gov Avery Rodriguez – RodriguezAN2@state.gov AfriLabs Jennifer Okeke-Ojiudu – jen@afrilabs.com Joshua Omena – joshua@afrilabs.com About the U.S. Department of State: The U.S. Department of State is the leading foreign affairs agency of the United States government, dedicated to shaping a peaceful and prosperous world. The Office of Global Partnerships fosters public-private collaborations to address global challenges and promote sustainable development. About AfriLabs: AfriLabs, a dynamic community-focused organization has been empowering and nurturing innovation hubs across Africa since 2011. By building capacity, providing capital, networking, and advocating for policy changes, AfriLabs cultivates highly-promising innovators and entrepreneurs in its member hubs’ communities, ultimately driving economic and social growth. In addition to fostering a robust community around these rapidly emerging innovation hubs in Africa, the organization also connects them to other stakeholders in the broader ecosystem, thereby improving the quality of their interventions and contributing to a thriving African innovation economy.
AfriLabs and Association of Countrywide Innovation Hubs, Kenya sign MoU to support grassroots hubs
The largest network of innovation hubs in Africa, AfriLabs and the Association of Countrywide Innovation Hubs (ACIH) have signed a comprehensive long-term partnership to co-create capacity building interventions, foster rural innovations, and create training and mentorship programs for grassroots hubs in Africa. It is common knowledge that most innovation support in Africa is focused on the continent’s urban centres. This has slowed down the growth of the entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystems in peri-urban and rural areas. This partnership aims to address this gap and tap into the innovation potential outside the big cities. “Innovation takes place everywhere. The role of entrepreneur support organisations like AfriLabs and the Association of Countrywide Innovation Hubs in Kenya is to find, support and amplify these innovators to help them have maximum impact. AfriLabs is delighted to begin work with the Association of Countrywide Innovation Hubs in Kenya to ensure that our entrepreneur support hubs and the communities they serve, regardless of their geographical location, have an equal chance to thrive.” Nekesa Were, Director of Strategy, AfriLabs said during her speech at the signing event at Rift Valley Innovation Centre. Magdaline Chepkemoi, Chairperson of Association of Countrywide Innovation Hubs and Nekesa Were, AfriLabs Director of Strategy officially sign the MOU. Witnessed by (l-r): Benjamin Towet, Manager of Rift Valley Innovation Centre, State Department for Broadcasting and Telecommunications Principal Secretary, Esther Koimett and Engineer John Tanui CEO of Konza Technopolis and Patron of Rift Valley Innovation Centre. Picture credit: Rift Valley Innovation Centre. The collaboration will co-create and implement capacity building programs for AfriLabs and ACIH grassroots member hubs to support peri-urban and rural innovations. It will also support the creation of a more robust, more coordinated Pan African ecosystem among the numerous technology and innovation hubs currently operating on the continent. “What a milestone. When two visionary membership organisations like the Association of Countrywide Innovation Hubs and Afrilabs come together, it can only mean one thing, a plus for African startups and communities. Through this collaboration, we are looking forward to an inclusive innovation ecosystem in Africa, and becoming a source of prosperity for all, by strengthening grassroots hubs to foster rural and peri-urban innovations and strong links with technology and innovation hubs across the continent.” Chepkemoi Magdaline, Chairperson, Association of Countrywide Innovation Hubs commented while speaking to the press at the signing ceremony. For more information on this partnership, kindly send an email to joshua@afrilabs.com and pauline.nthambi@countrywidehubs.org ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. About AfriLabs AfriLabs is a network organisation supporting over 340 Innovation Centres across 52 African countries, founded upon the mission of building a community around the rapidly emerging technology hubs in Africa. These hubs serve as centres that provide support to African entrepreneurs, innovators, developers, and youths. By providing physical co-working and dedicated office spaces, as well as inclusive training and business, legal and financial support, we play an active role in helping to raise successful entrepreneurs who will create jobs and develop innovative solutions to African problems. About Association of Countrywide Innovation Hubs (ACIH) The Association of Countrywide Innovation Hubs (ACIH) is a network of innovation hubs based outside Kenya’s capital city, Nairobi. Its current membership comprises over 56 Technology and Innovation Hubs that are sector agnostic, with startups in diverse fields of agribusiness, finTech, Edtech, Energy, Blue economy, Environment & Conservation as well as FCMG among others. Our Mission is to foster innovation, entrepreneurship and Technology and contribute to the greater goals of development through innovation, mentorship, research and policy input. Our main objective is to: promote activities and programs of the member hubs and support their vision of testing and building impactful sustainable businesses in rural and second-tier towns of Kenya. We work to deliver on our mandate by: Capacity building and resource mobilization to support the activities of individual startups and member hubs, Exploring and running joint programs that are of mutual benefit to members and the target groups, Providing an opportunity for joint research, expert opinion and the central point where different information on startups and thematic core areas can be sought and verified and Engaging local and national governments in policy frameworks or programs to enhance the activities and sustainability of startup enablers.