Over 26 innovation hubs from 15 African countries under the AfriLabs network convened for its second annual meeting prior to re:publica, Europe’s largest conference on the Internet and society to stimulate networking, knowledge exchange and collaboration.
The several AfriLabs and other members of the Global Innovation Gathering (GIG) on stage 6 today shared their views on innovation, entrepreneurship, and technology.
Africa has witnessed a growing number of tech hubs, each of which serves as a physical nexus for developers, entrepreneurs, and investors, emerge across the continent. In response to this trend, AfriLabs was founded in 2010 by five entrepreneurs active in the hub space —Bart Lacroix, co-founder of Nailab and the 1%CLUB; Ben White, co-founder of VC4Africa and Board Member of ActivSpaces; Bill Zimmerman, co-founder of ActivSpaces and VC4Africa; Erik Hersman, co-founder of iHub and Ushahidi; and Jon Gosier, founder of Appfrica and Hive Colab—who believed that bringing African hubs together to learn and collaborate would enable them to maximize impact within their local ecosystems and affect change at a regional and pan-African level.
AfriLabs aim at re:publica, organized by GIZ and the BMZ, in collaboration with AfriLabs is engage with the global community of innovators in Berlin in a view of improving its own hubs in Africa.
The meeting also provided an opportunity to welcome newly elected members of the board of directors from Kenya, Uganda, Madagascar and Nigeria.
According to AfriLabs Director Tayo Akinyeymi.“I’m pleased to announce that our new board members are Lynn Sellanga from Nailab (Kenya); Andriankoto Ratozamanana from Habaka (Madagascar); John Matago from @iBizAfrica (Kenya); Barbara Birgungi from Hive Colab (Uganda) and Michael Oluwagbemi from Wennovation Hub (Nigeria).”
Launched in 2011, Afrilabs, aims to connect tech spaces in Africa for learning and growth for both web and mobile developers in Africa instead of operating in isolation.