KUBATANA MAGAZINE | OCTOBER 2022
AFR I LABS
EXAMINING COLLABORA- TIONS BETWEEN NORTH AND SUB-SAHARAN AFRICAN INNOVATION COMMUNITIES.
Programme (FESP) was an intervention project by TechQuest, Nigeria and Junub Open Space, South Sudan, supported by the AfriLabs Capacity Building Programme in 2020. Despite the highlighted collaborative success stories between the North and Sub-Saharan African (SSA) innovation communities, the continent’s potential is still not being reflected due to obstacles such as poor infrastructure, linguistic differences, cultural differences, tariffs, and restrictions on accessibility. The African Union introduced Agenda 2063 in 2013, which should create the largest single market in the world. It envisages an African Investment Bank, the Pan-African Stock Exchange, African Monetary Fund, and the African Central bank. The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) can help digital transformation on the continent whilst stimulating startups and entrepreneurial initiatives to expand and circulate products and services easily between NA and SSA. The existing entrepreneurial programs and innovation ecosystem in NA are currently more oriented to the Middle East, Europe, and the Mediterranean countries. AfriLabs and other regional Entrepreneurship Support Organizations (ESOs) and funders can play
a vital role in unleashing the potential of this bridging by creating relevant programs between both regions, organising soft-landing missions, joint programs, decentralised operations, developing business and innovation clusters, as well as collaborating in digital transformation and matching funds and grants. NA startups and innovative businesses have more opportunities to expand their solutions to SSA than other regions like Europe, which is very hard to penetrate, and the Middle East, which fits more big corporations and heavy industries. It is the same for entrepreneurs in SSA who can expand their innovative technology to the North of the continent with markets that share similar challenges and opportunities.
BY BY RANA EMARA North Africa Coordinator, AfriLabs
The entrepreneurship ecosystem in Africa is growing rapidly. Last year, startups secured more than $5.2 billion in investment and around $800 million in debt, according to the Partech report. The Northern African region secured more than 15% of funding while it represents 20% of the continent’s overall population. There have also been instances of organisations in North Africa (NA) collaborating with those in
other parts of the continent. For instance, Swvl expanded across different markets, including Kenya, and is one of the successful business models and technologies that was developed in the North and deployed to East Africa. Some companies from West Africa have expanded to the North, like Jumia in Egypt in 2012. And there is the case of investment from North Africa to West Africa, like Cairo Angels investing $250K in Credpal, Nigeria. Similarly, the Female Entrepreneurship Support
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