{"id":18566,"date":"2020-02-17T14:14:02","date_gmt":"2020-02-17T14:14:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/technopolis-group.com\/connecting-african-and-european-tech-hubs\/"},"modified":"2020-05-05T05:48:07","modified_gmt":"2020-05-05T05:48:07","slug":"connecting-african-and-european-tech-hubs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/technopolis-group.com\/nl\/connecting-african-and-european-tech-hubs\/","title":{"rendered":"Connecting African and European Tech Hubs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-pullquote\"><blockquote><p>Despite Africa\u2019s age-old problem with infrastructure there is a remarkably high level of awareness when it comes to technology and new business opportunities. This is primarily because the internet has opened access to the latest information and the newest technologies. <\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>But\nit\u2019s more than the availability of the technology itself. Almost everyone in\nWestern Europe has access to the internet, but it tends to be taken for\ngranted. In Africa, people are challenged in ways that Europeans can barely\nimagine and they need to find ways to better their lives; so they always keep\nstruggling, seeking out information and using the internet as much as possible\n\u2013 such as studying online rather than borrowing to study in another continent. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s surprising\nthat in Africa, where power outages are common, the level of awareness about\ncutting-edge technologies seems to be the same as one would find in Europe. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Innovation\ncomes in hubs<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Technopolis Group is working on an EU-funded project which aims to build on the energy and awareness of Africa\u2019s new generation of entrepreneurs and innovators \u2013 the real game-changers in Africa\u2019s future economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is being done by connecting innovation and technology hubs in Africa with those in EU Member States. The project\u2019s aim is to share ideas and methodologies and access new sources of funds; it started in January 2019 and will go on for another two years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A hub is a shared office space where entrepreneurs and innovators come together, use the internet (and a desk), meet like-minded people, get training and meet investors. Some hubs actively help these entrepreneurs grow their ideas into viable businesses that attract investors. &nbsp;They play an important role in Europe\u2019s economic development; in Africa, there are over 400 hubs, mostly funded by international donor agencies or philanthropists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The role of the Technopolis Group project is that of a facilitator, a network builder \u2013 to bring people together. One of the project\u2019s first tasks was to identify a shortlist of hubs, on both continents, that are both willing and able to cooperate with their counterpart on the other continent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Another initial task is to arrange a launch event in Kenya. Technopolis Group only invited 21 carefully selected hubs: 10 from Europe and 11 from Africa, The invitation list is limited as they\u2019re going for depth rather than breadth.&nbsp; Also invited to the first event are 20 promising new businesses which were trained (or \u201cincubated\u201d) by the African tech hubs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Three\nexamples of African hubs<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Each\nAfrican hub is different, and the following examples give an indication of\ntheir variety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Many\nhubs are private sector run and an example of this is the <em>Active Spaces <\/em>hub\nin the Cameroon city of Doula. The hub was started by students who were looking\nfor a space to develop their ideas; it started out as a co-working space, and\nthe rent they get for this is their main source of income. They recently\nstarted offering incubation (training) services for entrepreneurs. It\u2019s a\nwell-organised hub with good international connections. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Another type of hub is the ones set up by government or academic institutions. One of these has been set up by the Polytechnic in Yaounde, in Cameroon, with government funding. Like the private sector example described above, the aim is to incubate and mature the ideas of the students \u2013 as well as other innovators in the area. They have over 500 square metres of office space, as well as conference and parking facilities. One of their success stories is a start-up called Gifted Mum which gives pre-natal advice about bringing up children. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A third example of a successful African hub comes from Lagos, Nigeria. It\u2019s called CC Hub where CC stands for Co-Creation. It offers co-working and innovation spaces and has managed to link up with Facebook which is offering some support to the African start-up ecosystem. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Networking\nand partnerships<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Technopolis Group encourages the hubs to enter into a partnership with each other, share information about relevant start-ups and organise joint events. They will organise more networking events like this during the course of the project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The aim\nis to avoid the importing of traditional Western models \u2013 which often do not\nwork in Africa \u2013 and create direct links between innovative start-ups that are\nbased on local needs and new technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At the launch event, Technopolis Group will bring together hub representatives from Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia \u2013 with counterparts from Cyprus, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Luxemburg, Ireland, the Netherlands, Portugal and the UK. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The list of technologies and sectors that these 21 hubs specialise in is impressive and includes artificial intelligence, drones, blockchain, the internet of things, big data, robotics, clean energy, health, food and agriculture, eCommerce, eco-tourism, the frugal economy, education, software and app development, manufacturing \u2013 and much more.&nbsp; &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This project will contribute to the strategic goal agreed between the EU and the African Union at their summit in September 2018, which issued a joint statement aiming for \u201can unprecedented shift towards an equal partnership between Africa and the EU.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/africaeurope-innovationpartnership.net\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"More about the Africa-Europe Innovation Partnership (opens in a new tab)\">More about the Africa-Europe Innovation Partnership<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Despite Africa\u2019s age-old problem with infrastructure there is a remarkably [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,230],"tags":[],"solution":[],"sector":[85,87],"class_list":["post-18566","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-geen-onderdeel-van-een-categorie","category-technopolitan-nl","sector-digitalisation-nl","sector-international-coop-nl"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.1.1 - 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