Afrilabs

AfriLabs is a pan-African network organisation of over 150 Innovation centers across 40 African countries.[1][2] Each hub serves as a meeting point for entrepreneurs, technologists, investors, tech companies and web/mobile engineers in its community. AfriLabs provides a network for technology and innovation centers across Africa to network, collaborate and share knowledge. Beyond connecting hubs across Africa, AfriLabs partners with developmental and corporate organizations to organize capacity building programs and initiatives physically and virtually for tech hubs and their communities.

AfriLabs
Official logo
Formation2011
Location
ServicesNetwork Organization
Board Chair
Rebecca Enonchong
Executive Director
Anna Ekeledo
Websitewww.afrilabs.com

Background

2011-2013: Establishment.

AfriLabs was founded in 2011 to build a community around the rapidly emerging tech hubs in Africa. AfriLabs was founded with 5 hubs Nailab Kenya, iHub Kenya, HiveColab Uganda, Activ Spaces Cameroun and Banta Labs Senegal and had her first gathering in the launching of IHub. In 2012, AfriLabs was formally registered in the Netherlands as a foundation and hired its first Executive Director in November.[3] AfriLabs also partnered with Indigo Trust and Hivos. In 2013, AfriLabs laid out strategic priorities and went into partnership with Microsoft 4Afrika and the Rockefeller Foundation. AfriLabs also got involved with the World Bank InfoDev ‘Virtual Incubation project and added 5 more hubs to its network from East Africa.[4]

2014-2016: Transition.

In 2014, AfriLabs had its second global meetup in Berlin.[5][6] AfriLabs also collaborated with The Rockefeller Foundation to launch a Digital jobs challenge.[7] AfriLabs Launches1st Collaboration Challenge with support from Microsoft4Afrika[8] and initiated the hub sustainability challenge with AfriHIve.[9] In 2015, AfriLabs had its first African meetup in Egypt.[10] OSIWA carried out an assessment in partnership with the organization to explore hubs as creative spaces. AfriLabs hosted a sustainability workshop, 'Hub in a box'.[11] while the official AfriLabs website was created, branding was carried out. AfriLabs launches 'social media takeover' for members and launched capacity building partnership with MBA programs.

In 2016, AfriLabs transitioned its secretariat assets to Abuja, registered as a non-profit in Nigeria, expanded the administrative team- secretariat, launched its corporate affiliate program with Africa.com and Facebook, went into partnership with Making All Voices Count (MAVC) which resulted in the AfriLabs Annual Gathering, organizational support, the development of a virtual learning platform and regional Hub City meet ups in Dakar, Johannesburg, Cairo, Lagos and Nairobi. The first African Annual Gathering took place in Accra, Ghana.

2017: 2nd Annual Gathering.

In March, AfriLabs held its first Virtual Board Election and elected new board members into the team. On April AfriLabs in collaboration with Microsoft hosted a free technical training for startups and entrepreneurs in Lagos,[12] Nigeria. On July, AfriLabs and ICT4SI partnered to host their first West African social innovation workshop in Abuja, Nigeria. In August, AfriLabs had its first Hubs Learning Week which was sponsored by MAVC. In October, The Annual Gathering took place in Cairo, Egypt - hosted by the District and co-organized by Hivos and AfriLabs. In November, TNE in collaboration with AfriLabs organized the Supersize the Valley Conference themed "Changing the Paradigm: from individual to ecosystem".[13][14] This training was focused on the use of Microsoft's Azure and BizSpark platforms and how they can be used to improve technology based businesses.

AfriLabs Team

Board members

The current Board Chair is Rebecca Enonchong. She is also the Board Chair of Activ Spaces, Cameroun. The Board team members include; Bernard Chira (Board Secretary), Rakotoarivo Noharintsafidy Sarobidy (Board Treasurer), Regina Mbodg (Francophone Representative), and Nekesa Were (Board member).[15][16]

Advisory board

AfriLabs advisory board consists of Michael Oluwagbemi ( founder of LoftyInc Allied Partner), Seye Bassir (Director of Investment at IFU.), Bart Lacroix (Co-Founder of the 1%Club, AfriLabs, NaiLab, and Open for Change. ), Jon Gosier (founder of Appfrica), Erik Hersman (the CEO of BRCK), Bill Zimmerman (Founder of ActivSpaces and co-founder of VC4Africa), Ben White (Co-Founder of VC4Africa).

Operations
  • Connecting hubs, collaboration.[17]
  • Creating of platforms for members to communicate, share knowledge and collaborate.[18]
  • Capacity building of hub managers and start-ups.[19][20]
  • Crowd source community knowledge.[21][22][23]
  • Disseminating important information, best practices with hub trends local and international through newsletters, press releases and social media.[24][25]
  • Engaging stakeholders: Tech Hubs, Investors (Angel and Venture Capitalists), Government, Developmental and Corporate organizations.[26]
  • Creating linkages within the African ecosystem.[27]

Programs and Services

AfriLabs Annual Gathering

[28] The AfriLabs Annual Gathering annually focuses on trending tech hub practices, local innovators and innovative solutions to relevant African issues. In order to key into the African integration agenda, the regional development or political organization at the hosting country will be fully involved. The Annual Gathering provides a unique opportunity for members and other stakeholders to convene, learn the latest hub insights, and build partnerships between and with hubs.[29]

AfriLabs Hubs Learning Week

AfriLabs Hubs Learning week was launched in August 2017 and it consisted of five virtual workshops on capacity building in the form of webinars for hub managers. The Hubs Learning week in 2017 was part of the Manjaro Virtual Learning Platform Initiative sponsored by Making All Voices Count (MAVC).[30] It is a capacity building virtual workshop that empowers hub managers and staff with requisite and formal incubation management training and skills needed to start, operate and expand hubs/innovation centers in Africa.

References
  1. "nHub Nigeria and 10 other tech hubs join Afrilabs - nHub Nigeria". nHub Nigeria. 2017-06-01. Archived from the original on 2018-02-22. Retrieved 2018-02-21.
  2. "AfriLabs welcomes new hubs into pan-African network". Disrupt Africa. 2017-06-01. Retrieved 2018-02-21.
  3. "Woman on the Rise: Tayo Akinyemi, Executive Director of AfriLabs". GA Blog. 2015-08-10. Retrieved 2018-02-23.
  4. "AfriLabs welcomes new Hubs into its Pan-African Network | IT News Africa – Africa's Technology News Leader". www.itnewsafrica.com. Retrieved 2018-02-22.
  5. "Global gathering of innovation hubs, from Africa and other c ." Venture Capital for Africa. Retrieved 2018-02-23.
  6. "A Gathering of Africa's Tech Hubs: AfriLab Gathering at Re:publica Berlin". Indigo Trust. 2013-05-28. Retrieved 2018-02-23.
  7. "Engaging African Tech Hubs in the Search for Digital Jobs - The Rockefeller Foundation". The Rockefeller Foundation. 2014-12-18. Retrieved 2018-02-23.
  8. "Microsoft 4Afrika Announces AfriLabs 'Collaboration Challenge' – Nigerian CommunicationWeek". nigeriacommunicationsweek.com.ng. Retrieved 2018-02-23.
  9. "AfriLabs and AfriHive collaborate to host a series of dialogues on hub sustainability - LIONS@FRICA". LIONS@FRICA. 2014-11-13. Archived from the original on 2018-02-22. Retrieved 2018-02-23.
  10. "AfriLabs annual gathering moves to Egypt". Disrupt Africa. 2017-05-09. Retrieved 2018-02-22.
  11. "AfriLabs to co-host "Hub in a Box" sustainability workshop". Disrupt Africa. 2015-11-06. Retrieved 2018-02-23.
  12. "Register to Join the Microsoft-AfriLabs Training for Startups on Azure and BizSpark - Microsoft Care GH". Microsoft Care GH. 2017-04-05. Retrieved 2018-02-28.
  13. "The supersize the valley conference -- Changing the paradigm -- from individual to ecosystem". techpoint.ng. Retrieved 2018-02-28.
  14. "Events - The Next Economy Supersize the Valley Conference". www.allevents.ng. Retrieved 2018-02-28.
  15. Ebuehi, Francis. "AfriLabs Elects a new Board - Innovation Village". innovation-village.com. Retrieved 2018-02-21.
  16. "realtime profile hashtags wall video images medias". www.pictaramviewer.com. Archived from the original on 2018-02-22. Retrieved 2018-02-21.
  17. "AfriLabs and AfriHive collaborate to host a series of dialogues on hub sustainability - LIONS@FRICA". LIONS@FRICA. 2014-11-13. Archived from the original on 2018-02-22. Retrieved 2018-02-21.
  18. "AfriLabs joins forces with SPIDER and iHub | AfriLabs". www.afrilabs.com. Retrieved 2018-02-21.
  19. "Microsoft-AfriLabs Training for Startups | AfriLabs". www.afrilabs.com. Retrieved 2018-02-21.
  20. "AfriLabs network | Funds 4 Africa". Funds 4 Africa. 2017-12-02. Retrieved 2018-02-21.
  21. "Hub in a Box! #hubsustainability". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2018-02-21.
  22. Hub, Africa News. "AfriLabs to co-host "Hub in a Box" sustainability workshop". Retrieved 2018-02-21.
  23. "AfriLabs to co-host "Hub in a Box" sustainability workshop". Disrupt Africa. 2015-11-06. Retrieved 2018-02-21.
  24. "InfoDev and Afrilabs to Launch East Africa Virtual Incubation Pilot Program". Kachwanya.com | Kenya Tech News. 2013-01-21. Retrieved 2018-02-21.
  25. "AfriLabs Strategic Partnership with Hivos for AfriLabs Annual Gathering 2017 | Innov8tiv". Innov8tiv. 2017-09-05. Retrieved 2018-02-21.
  26. AfriLabs (21 December 2017). "#AfriLabsin2017 Great feedback from the conference AfriLabs organized in partnership with 1% Club. A stakeholder conference in Abuja, Nigeria in November 2017 called 'Supersize the Valley' that brought together over 150 entrepreneurs, government,investors&corporate organizations.pic.twitter.com/WBP5PN5Epn". @AfriLabs. Retrieved 2018-02-21.
  27. SolutionsTeam. "Pan-African Tech Network Expands To Chad And DR Congo With 11 New Tech Hubs". www.solutions4africa.com. Retrieved 2018-02-21.
  28. "AfriLabs | Annual Gathering 2017". afrilabs-gathering.com. Retrieved 2017-11-10.
  29. "AfriLabs Annual Gathering moves to Tanzania". www.bizcommunity.com. Retrieved 2018-02-22.
  30. count, Making all voices. "Making All Voices Count - A grand challenge for development". Making All Voices Count. Retrieved 2017-11-10.
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