Building capacity for Africa, by Africans – Afrilabs
In the last few months, we have hosted several webinars and discussions
on how hubs could evolve to remain impactful. Pandemic or not, we need
these conversations to figure out how to solve Africa’s challenges, find
our place in the global space, and build sustainable innovation systems
for the future.
One glaring problem in developing sustainable innovation systems is the
continent’s capacity gaps. African hub founders and their staff lack
access to Africa-tailored content, models and best practices for hub
management and startup support considering the unique and challenging
African business environment.
As a solution to these gaps, AfriLabs
launched the AfriLabs Capacity Building Programme (ACBP) on the first
day of the AfriLabs Annual Gathering 2019 at the African Union
Commission Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It’s a two-million
euro, 36-month intensive capacity building programme for hubs. This
project is being carried out thanks to AFD’s support through the Digital
Africa seed fund. While still in its first few months, the programme
has picked up some steam with activities including the 2020 AfriLabs
Hubs Learning Week and has given grants to three hubs to host SDGs and
COVID-19 virtual meetups.
Learn more about the ACBP and how you can be a part of it at www.afrilabs-capacity.com.
