After COVID-19 outbreak, the African Union in collaboration with UNDP and AfriLabs worked together to implement the first African business simulation that seeks to help Micro/Small/Medium Enterprises MSMEs to overcome the current COVID-19 challenges and the lockdown. More than 400 participants and 10 different partners have been involved in building and participating in the simulation in 2020 from 5 different countries: Cameroon, Egypt, Sudan Senegal, and Zimbabwe.
IMPACT REPORT BUILDING AFRICA’S INNOVATION INFRASTRUCTURE
1
www.afrilabs.com
Credits & Acknowledgments
AfriLabs Communications Team
Editorial & Communications Toluwanimi Onakoya
Design & Layout Joshua Attah, Joshua Adeniyi, Dennis Miru Data & Research Kumashe Yaakugh, Deogracious Mulumba
With special thanks to the AfriLabs team and AfriLabs’ network of innovation hubs across Africa, whose data, stories, and collaboration made this report possible.
2
AfriLabs Annual Report 2025
Contents
01
02
The Year in Context
The Moonshot in Motion
Pg 4
Pg 12
03
04
The Gathering That Changed the Conversation
Pg 38
The Infrastructure Behind It All
Pg 43
Appendix
Pg 51
3
www.afrilabs.com
01 The Year in Context
4
AfriLabs Annual Report 2025
A Letter from Our Executive Director
2025 was a year of consolidation and clarity for AfriLabs. After years of growing our network and extending our reach, 2025 marked a decisive shift: from expansion to the kind of institutional depth that sustains Africa’s innovation ecosystems for the long term. or headline-grabbing announcements. It was defined by something more important - the deliberate building of systems, structures, and partnerships that will carry this organisation and this The year was not defined by rapid growth ecosystem well beyond any single programme or convening. One question guided us throughout: How can AfriLabs continue to evolve as both a convening network and an enduring institutional backbone for innovation across Africa? What follows in this report is our answer. Not in the language of deliverables, but in the language of change - what shifted, what we learned, and what we are building toward.
First, we strengthened the foundation. Across a rapidly evolving landscape, AfriLabs continued to play a foundational role – supporting a network of over 500 hubs in 53 countries and reinforcing the ecosystems that power entrepreneurship across the continent. Sustainable innovation depends on strong institutions, connected communities, and platforms that enable collaboration at scale. This is where AfriLabs operates. Second, we advanced ecosystem-level collaboration in new and meaningful ways. Our engagement with United Nations timbuktoo, our Ministerial Roundtable on AI and African Sovereignty, and our co-hosting of the 10th AfriLabs Annual Gathering at the United Nations Office in Nairobi all signal the same thing: AfriLabs is increasingly operating at the intersection of implementation and influence. Third, we leveraged our network to strengthen hubs across the continent. Because when hubs are stronger, ecosystems are stronger. And when ecosystems are stronger, opportunity expands
– especially for young people and underserved communities. AfriLabs enters its next chapter stable, mission- driven, and ready. Personally, 2025 also represents a moment of transition. After a decade of service, I will conclude my tenure as Executive Director in 2026 with deep gratitude for the journey and the partnerships that have shaped it. What gives me confidence is the strength of the foundation we have built together - with our hubs, partners, board, and the broader ecosystem. The work continues. The next chapter begins on a foundation we built together.
Executive Director, AfriLabs Anna Ekeledo
5
www.afrilabs.com
2025 Impact At a Glance
AfriLabs is more than a network; it’s a catalyst for growth, collaboration, and meaningful impact across Africa’s innovation ecosystem.
$2.7M 13,000+ 10M+ mobilised across programmes jobs created or supported people reached
528 Innovation Hubs
53 Countries
17
51
Programmes
Team Members
6
AfriLabs Annual Report 2025
ACROSS AFRICA 53 countries · All 5 regions
$350K Sponsorship at AAG 2025 3,000+ AAG 2025 participants
152M+ Digital media reach
71
Countries at AAG 2025
7
www.afrilabs.com
From Network to Economic Infrastructure
Over the years, as AfriLabs’ network expanded from 40 hubs to more than 500 across 53 countries, the question shifted. It was no longer ‘how large can we grow?’ It became: ‘how durable can we become?’ In 2025, AfriLabs made a deliberate strategic pivot - from expansion-driven growth to institutional consolidation. The focus
moved toward building the operational, digital, policy, and partnership architecture required to function not only as a connector of ecosystems but also as a foundational layer within them. In this context, infrastructure means reliability, coordination, and scale. It means reducing fragmentation
across markets. It means strengthening the channels through which capital, knowledge, policy dialogue, and talent flow across Africa.
Bridging Fragmentation Across Ecosystems
Africa’s booming innovation scene faced growing hurdles: disjointed markets, uneven capital flows, and patchy support networks. AfriLabs tackled these in 2025 by forging tighter links among hubs, investors, and regulators - unlocking smoother pathways for funding, expertise, and collaborations continent- wide.
$2.7M Mobilised across programmes
528 Innovation hubs across Africa
13,000+ Jobs created or supported
53 Countries represented
10M+ People reached
17 Programmes delivered
These outcomes demonstrate scale and structural coherence across three ecosystem layers - policy dialogue for enabling environments, platforms like AfriLabs Connect Deal Room (ACDR) for capital access, and hub-led programs for startup/community impact.
8
AfriLabs Annual Report 2025
Africa’s Innovation Economy in 2025: The Landscape
In 2025, Africa’s innovation economy showed renewed investment confidence and evolving market dynamics. According to the 2025 Africa Tech Venture Capital Report, total funding for African tech ventures reached roughly US$4.1 billion, driven by US$2.4 billion in equity funding and a 63 per cent increase in debt financing - indicating growing investor appetite for sustainable, revenue-linked business models. Funding remained concentrated in a few markets. Kenya, South Africa, Egypt, and Nigeria collectively attracted the majority of capital deployed in 2025. Yet geographic diversification strengthened, with increased investor interest spreading into markets across Eastern, Northern, and Southern Africa.
Policy environments in 2025 reflected the shifting importance of innovation ecosystems within national development strategies. At the 2025 G20 Summit in Johannesburg, stakeholders discussed a US$1 billion initiative to expand artificial intelligence infrastructure across Africa - highlighting the continent’s growing prominence in global tech dialogues. For founders and ecosystem builders, this climate demanded solid business fundamentals, strategic partnerships, and the ability to navigate
evolving regulatory environments. Institutions capable of bridging capital, policy, and infrastructure became increasingly vital. AfriLabs is one of those institutions.
9
www.afrilabs.com
A Partnership at the Highest Level: UNDP timbuktoo
The relationship between AfriLabs and UNDP timbuktoo represents something qualitatively different from a standard partnership. AfriLabs serves on the timbuktoo Council - contributing to shaping the initiative’s inclusive, impact- driven approach at a governance level. This is an institutional alignment on a continental and global scale. In 2025, this alignment produced concrete outcomes. AfriLabs and UNDP timbuktoo co-hosted ecosystem engagements at the 10th AfriLabs Annual Gathering in Nairobi. This marked the first time the
Gathering was held at the United Nations Office, a deliberate signal of Africa’s growing prominence in global innovation governance. The partnership also drove the continent’s most comprehensive ecosystem mapping exercise to date.
AfriLabs does not sit on the UNDP
timbuktoo Council as a programme partner, but as a co-architect.
L - R: Ahunna Eziakonwa (UN Assistant Secretary-General, Assistant Administrator and Director, Regional Bureau for Africa, UNDP), Rene Parker (Board chair, AfriLabs, Co founder & Director, RLabs) posing for a photograph after their fireside chat at the 2025 AfriLabs Annual Gathering
10
AfriLabs Annual Report 2025
Mapping Africa’s Ecosystem: 41 Countries, 5,000+ Stakeholders
The UNDP timbuktoo Stakeholder Mapping Project - conducted in partnership with AfriLabs - set out to build a systematic, evidence-based picture of Africa’s innovation landscape. Eight ecosystem experts led research design, validation, and analysis across 41 countries spanning all five African regions. Data collection included surveys, interviews, and focus group discussions. Over 500 participants engaged directly. More than 5,000 stakeholders were identified - hubs, service providers, investors, academic partners, and policy actors.
The result is the most comprehensive evidence base Africa’s innovation ecosystem has ever had. It identifies gaps in capital, infrastructure, and support services. It maps where ecosystems are strong and where they are fragile. And it gives AfriLabs, UNDP timbuktoo, and their partners a shared foundation from which to design more targeted, and more effective interventions across the continent.
Building the African innovation future we want will take more than ideas. It will take courage, collaboration, and a shared commitment to act... Individually we are powerful, but together we are earthshattering, history making, transformative.” Anna Ekeledo, Executive Director, AfriLabs
11
www.afrilabs.com
02 The Moonshot in Motion
Africa’s digital and AI-driven economy is projected by institutions including the African Development Bank and the AU to add up to $1 trillion in value over the next decade. AfriLabs exists to help foster that economy and make sure it works for African people and communities, not just the markets best positioned to capture it. Through our activities across innovation, collaboration, and impactful investment, we are contributing to that shift on the ground, where it happens.
That ambition – organises itself into eight verticals, each one a specific arena where AfriLabs shows up, drives change, and builds the conditions for an economy that works for everyone. These verticals will guide AfriLabs not just through 2025, but through the decade ahead. What follows is an honest account of where each vertical stands after year one – the distinct story 2025 tells, and the foundation it sets for what comes next.
12
AfriLabs Annual Report 2025
PHASE 1 - INITIATIVES ACTIVELY UNDERWAY.
PHASE 2 - INITIATIVES PLANNED FOR SUBSEQUENT IMPLEMENTATION.
13
www.afrilabs.com
The AfriLabs Moonshot: 8 Verticals, One Direction
To help foster a $1 trillion digital economy, one that addresses Africa’s social, economic, and environmental needs, through innovation, collaboration, and impactful investment. These are the eight verticals through which AfriLabs contributes to that future.
The eight Moonshot verticals are not equal in their 2025 maturity, and this report does not pretend otherwise. Four verticals entered the year with clear momentum, defined programmes, and measurable activity; these are the Phase 1 priority verticals, and they receive full treatment in the pages that follow. The remaining four are activating, with foundations being laid for the years ahead, these are captured together as a collective Phase 2 snapshot.
Across all programmes, AfriLabs prioritised inclusion, women founders, youth, and underserved regions - embedding equity, sustainability, and regional balance as core principles across its work.
14
AfriLabs Annual Report 2025
VERTICAL 1 — ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE · PHASE 1 Who decides how AI works in Africa? In 2025, AfriLabs made sure it wasn’t a room without Africans in it.
15
www.afrilabs.com
VERTICAL 1 — ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE · PHASE 1
Africa’s AI moment is here, but the risk has always been that Africa would inherit someone else’s frameworks, someone else’s models, and someone else’s rules. In 2025, AfriLabs moved to change that. Not just through conversations, but through the specific, deliberate act of putting African policymakers, founders, and researchers in rooms where the decisions get made.
The Ministerial Roundtable on AI & African Sovereignty
communities, a role it will continue to build in 2026.
The Ministerial Roundtable on AI & African Sovereignty themed ‘Forging Africa’s Digital Future: Leadership, Policy, and Innovation in the Age of AI’, was one of the most ambitious undertakings of the year. Delivered in 90 days, it brought together over 50 senior policymakers and ecosystem leaders to produce actionable recommendations on AI adoption, inclusive policy, and regional collaboration frameworks. The conversations were substantive - spanning harmonised regulation, Africa’s role in shaping global AI governance, and the link between AI competitiveness and the African Continental Free Trade Area. The Roundtable positioned AfriLabs as a credible bridge between the continent’s policy architecture and its innovation
Mapping the AI EdTech Landscape
The WISE AI EdTech Africa Study - conducted in partnership with the Qatar Foundation - surveyed AI-powered educational technology startups across the continent, engaging over 210 participants including founders, higher education leaders, investors, and policymakers. The study identified key barriers to AI adoption in African education and produced a curated database that is now serving as a continental resource for investors, researchers, and ecosystem builders. 31 per cent of study participants were women - a number that matters in a sector where representation shapes what gets built and for whom.
Group photograph after the ministerial round table at the 2025 AfriLabs Annual Gathering
16
AfriLabs Annual Report 2025
Building from the Inside
its internal teams and broader network access knowledge, collaborate, and operate at scale. The platform will initially be deployed to support AfriLabs’ internal operations - streamlining workflows, improving coordination, and enhancing data-driven decision-making - before being extended across AfriLabs’ products for use by hubs, startups, and partners. Together, these efforts signal a deliberate shift from building AI capacity to deploying it - positioning AfriLabs to deliver more responsive, data-driven support and to scale impact across Africa’s innovation ecosystem.
AfriLabs also contributed to AI capability- building through the AI BRIDGE project - focused on AI bias reduction and inclusive data generation - and through the Milken- Motsepe AI & Manufacturing Challenge 2025. The Intel Community Reach Program 2.0 equipped emerging African entrepreneurs with tools and mentorship in AI and broadband technology, strengthening digital capacity across the network. In parallel, AfriLabs is preparing to launch Amari AI, a pan-African, AI-powered platform designed to strengthen how
This year’s theme couldn’t be more timely. Across this great continent, we are seeing an extraordinary upsurge of talent and creativity that are redefining what is possible Steven Jackson, UN Coordinator in Kenya, AAG 2025
50+ Senior policymakers at Ministerial Roundtable 210+ Participants in WISE AI Study 71 Countries represented at AAG 2025
17
www.afrilabs.com
VERTICAL 2 — ENVIRONMENTAL RESILIENCE · PHASE 1 While the world talks about Africa’s climate vulnerability, we funded 30 startups building solutions.
18
AfriLabs Annual Report 2025
VERTICAL 2 — ENVIRONMENTAL RESILIENCE · PHASE 1
Africa contributes the least to global carbon emissions and bears the most from their consequences. That is a familiar injustice. What is less familiar is the story of African entrepreneurs who are not waiting for the world to fix it - who are building cold rooms that reduce food waste, deploying clean energy infrastructure in rural communities, and turning organic waste into economic opportunity.
In 2025, AfriLabs supported those entrepreneurs directly.
Greenovations Africa: Backing the Builders The Greenovations Africa Programme empowers women- and youth-led businesses delivering solutions at the intersection of climate action, sustainability, and inclusive growth. Its goal is to accelerate early-stage green enterprises, improve access to finance, and inform enabling policies through evidence-based recommendations. The Africa Programme supported 30 early- stage green enterprises across 12 African countries through structured incubation, acceleration, mentoring, and direct grant funding. Five innovation hubs led thematic focus areas with €50,000 each for implementation. €125,000 in grants reached startups directly - enabling them to refine products, expand operations, and demonstrate impact. The results were tangible and specific. Thirty market-ready green solutions reached over 30,000 beneficiaries, and over 200+ jobs created. AgriTech Analytics trained 4,400 small-scale women farmers, with 900 accessing financing through its Crop Yield Prediction model. Mvutu deployed energy-efficient cold rooms across its communities, reducing 2,528kg of CO₂ emissions and creating 10 women- led hub jobs. Don’t-Trash-It Ventures built a circular economy operation capable of recycling 3 tonnes of organic waste per
day, training 78 young people and creating more than 30+ jobs in the process. These are not just pilot projects; they are enterprises with revenue, customers, and communities that depend on them. EMERGE EU: Africa-Europe Clean Energy Exchange The EMERGE EU Project is designed to accelerate Africa’s clean energy transition by equipping stakeholders with the tools, knowledge, and collaborative frameworks needed to scale sustainable energy solutions. Through the project, AfriLabs- led Work Package 4 (WP4) - at its General Assembly at Université Mohammed Premier (UMP) in Oujda, Morocco - focused on expert engagement and co-design, ensuring that clean energy solutions are context-appropriate, scalable, and policy-relevant. The Assembly was held
Emerge Project: AU-AU study visit panel session
19
www.afrilabs.com
to evaluate progress and plan future initiatives aimed at advancing sustainable energy development throughout Africa. Throughout 2025, AfriLabs coordinated expert-led workshops, African Union and the European Union exchanges (AU-EU), study visits within countries in the African Union (AU-AU), and hackathons across two piloting sprints, engaging over 150+ stakeholders across African energy sectors. The EMERGE Stakeholder Group was established as a structured platform for ongoing collaboration, and the EMERGE Toolbox - including modelling tools for evidence-based decision-making - was initiated. The work is building toward policy recommendations and clean energy roadmaps that reflect African realities, not just European frameworks. ONEPLANET: Water, Energy, Food as One System The ONEPLANET Project is a multi- stakeholder initiative aimed at deploying renewable energy infrastructure while advancing integrated Water–Energy– Food (WEF) Nexus approaches to support sustainable development across Africa. Its goal is to strengthen evidence-based decision-making by aligning technical modelling tools with the practical needs of policymakers, practitioners, and ecosystem actors. AfriLabs’ 2025 contributions focused on stakeholder engagement, knowledge exchange, and capacity building - convening 360+ participants through two webinars and two workshops, and mapping
a database of 1,500+ stakeholders across pilot locations. AfriLabs also led awareness-building through social media and website channels, achieving 22,000+ organic impressions. These efforts culminated in the co-creation of a WEF Nexus Toolkit and Knowledge Hub with local communities, now set for validation across pilot river basins in 2026. The focus will shift, in 2026, toward scaling proven solutions and strengthening access to climate finance.
In the Field: Mvutu’s Cold Rooms
When
Mvutu
deployed
energy-efficient cold storage infrastructure in its communities, it solved two problems at once; food waste, which drives both economic loss and environmental harm, and women’s employment. The result: 2,528kg of CO₂ emissions reduced. 10 women- led hub jobs created. And one enterprise that did not need a donor to rescue it - just the right support at the right stage.
30 early-stage green enterprises across 12 African countries
€125K in grants reached startups
200+ jobs created
20
AfriLabs Annual Report 2025
VERTICAL 3 — GENDER AND INCLUSION WaziEat had 200 customers. Then RevUp showed up. Now it has 350 - and a model worth replicating.
21
www.afrilabs.com
VERTICAL 3 — GENDER AND INCLUSION
The gender gap in African tech is not a pipeline problem. There is no shortage of women with ideas, with ambition, or with enterprises already running. The gap is structural - in access to capital, in investor networks, in the kind of targeted support that turns a good business into a great one. RevUp Women Initiative was designed as a multi-level response to these structural barriers - not as a mentorship programme or a grant scheme, but as a coordinated ecosystem intervention operating simultaneously at the level of the founder, the hub, and the investor.
RevUp Women Initiative: 459 Founders, Real Results
In 2025, RevUp supported 459 women founders across Nigeria and Cameroon, working through 13 innovation hubs and engaging over 50 women mentors. The programme was funded by the VISA Foundation, which recognised in RevUp a model that went beyond individual support to shift ecosystem conditions.
The evidence is in specific businesses, not aggregate statistics.
Funmilayo Caulcrick, Snr. Prog. Officer at AfriLabs, presenting at the RevUp Women Nigeria edition - Abuja onboarding session.
Participants at the RevUp Women Nigeria edition - Abuja onboarding session
RevUp Women Nigeria edition - Abuja onboarding session Group photograph
Networking session at RevUp Women Nigeria edition - Abuja onboarding session
22
AfriLabs Annual Report 2025
in the transition to a green economy.
These stories are not outliers - they represent a replicable model, which is why RevUp led AfriLabs’ International Women’s Day 2026 campaign to scale both the programme and the movement behind it.
At the AfriLabs Annual Gathering, the Gender and Inclusion Track – a part of series of sessions at the event, focused on advancing equitable participation - convened investors, founders, and policymakers to advance equitable participation, which further reinforced the commitment to gender inclusion. Across 2025, the organisation demonstrated that gender inclusion is the standard. In 2026, AfriLabs will deepen this commitment by expanding its portfolio of gender-focused initiatives while advancing ecosystem conditions that enable women and youth to fully participate, lead, and scale across Africa’s innovation economy.
Gender as a Cross-Cutting Commitment
In 2025, gender inclusion extended beyond RevUp. The World Food Programme (WFP) IGNITE Challenge recorded 45% female participation among supported agribusinesses. This programme was designed to support agribusiness- focused micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in South Sudan - enabling them to develop climate-resilient, innovative, and market-driven enterprises. This initiative directly contributes to local food security while promoting sustainable economic development in fragile, food- insecure contexts. This commitment to inclusion was further reinforced through the Greenovations programme, which prioritised women- and youth-led enterprises within the green economy. Focused on accelerating early- stage ventures, the programme improves access to finance while generating evidence to inform enabling policies. By combining grant funding, incubation, acceleration, mentoring, and ecosystem engagement, Greenovations supports startups in moving from innovation to scale - addressing critical environmental and socioeconomic challenges across Africa while ensuring more inclusive participation
459 women founders supported
13 innovation hubs engaged
50+ women mentors engaged
23
www.afrilabs.com
VERTICAL 4 — EDUCATION & HUMAN CAPITAL 14,000 learners across 70 countries didn’t wait for a university to catch up. They came to The Academy. The AfriLabs Academy
24
AfriLabs Annual Report 2025
VERTICAL 4 — EDUCATION & HUMAN CAPITAL
Africa’s innovation ecosystem is expanding faster than its formal education system can serve it, leaving founders in need of venture-building skills, hub managers requiring governance capacity, and ecosystem leaders seeking tools calibrated to African markets rather than imported Silicon Valley models. AfriLabs Academy was built to close that distance. In 2025, it continued to do so at scale.
The partners have enabled:
• Curriculum co-development and technical expertise • Scholarships to ensure inclusive access • Technology platforms for blended learning delivery • Localized programme adaptation across regions But the more significant story of 2025 was not the numbers. It was the transformation of the Academy’s model. AfriLabs is repositioning the Academy as Africa’s Practical Innovation and Venture Execution Academy - shifting from a donor-funded training initiative to a sustainable, revenue- generating platform. The focus moves to practical, execution-oriented learning built around African case studies and real- world toolkits. The hybrid model combines self-paced access with high-value cohort programmes offering live instruction, mentorship, and peer collaboration. The Academy that reaches its next 14,000 learners will be structurally different from the one that reached the first. It will belong to Africa’s ecosystem rather than be defined by individual donor cycles.
AfriLabs Academy: Learning at Continental Scale
The Academy reached over 14,000 learners across 70+ countries through blended learning models combining self-paced courses, cohort-based programmes, live masterclasses, and expert-led workshops, issuing 11,000 certificates. This was enabled by partners including AFD (Agence Française de Développement), Digital Africa, and the AfriLabs Capacity Building Programme (ACBP), who supported curriculum co-development, scholarships for inclusive access, and the technology platforms for delivery.
14,000+ learners reached via Academy
70+ countries reached
11,000+ certificates issued
25
www.afrilabs.com
The AU Digital & Innovation Fellowship
Through AfriLabs, Mamashiya Ntsepeng Tsita Tikiso mentored 18 AU Fellows across the African Union, guiding them through structured group sessions on resilience, strategic thinking, and emotional intelligence, and providing one-on-one mentorship that connected projects to AU objectives and fellows to broader professional networks.
African Union Innovation fellow posing for a photograph
AfriLabs is more than a network; it’s a catalyst for growth, collaboration, and meaningful impact across Africa’s innovation ecosystem.
Mamashiya Ntsepeng Tsita Tikiso, Founding Partner, BAM Group, Lesotho
African Union Innovation fellows
The Francophone Bridge: ACBP in Action
Alida Ebo’o’s work in 2025 demonstrates how education and human capital development take shape across diverse linguistic and regional contexts. Through ACBP, AfriLabs expanded access to critical knowledge, tools, and peer learning opportunities across Francophone Africa, where ecosystem support has historically been limited. By convening over 250 members from Cameroon, Gabon, DRC, Congo-Brazzaville, Burundi, and Equatorial Guinea - and working with SING in Gabon and CINOLU in DRC on women’s
entrepreneurship - Ebo’o demonstrated how AfriLabs’ learning infrastructure can be genuinely pan-African, not merely English- speaking African. In 2026, AfriLabs will continue to scale its education and capacity-building efforts while advancing sustainable approaches to learning across the ecosystem.
26
AfriLabs Annual Report 2025
VERTICAL 5 — INVESTMENT & CAPITAL MARKETS · PHASE 2
The capital exists but the connection didn’t. ACDR changed that for 30 startups across 15 countries - and we’re just getting started.
27
www.afrilabs.com
VERTICAL 5 — INVESTMENT & CAPITAL MARKETS · PHASE 2
AfriLabs Connect Deal Room (ACDR): Closing the Gap Access to capital for African startups remains constrained not only by funding availability but also by structural gaps within the ecosystem. Early-stage funding is often fragmented; many startups lack investment readiness, and investors face limited access to reliable, vetted deal flow. At the same time, business support organisations across the continent frequently operate in silos, creating fragmented pathways between founders, capital providers, and support services. The AfriLabs Connect Deal Room was designed to address this directly. In 2025, Version 1 of the platform was deployed - a digital-first infrastructure connecting investment-ready startups, investors, and business support organisations across Africa’s ecosystem. Built on partnerships with Leatherback (escrow and payment infrastructure), Tradeflow Africa, Aruwa
Capital, Babalakin & Co, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Development Agency (MSMEDA), and European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), ACDR directly engaged over 30 startups and 50+ ecosystem organisations across 15+ countries, facilitating USD$10 million in early investment opportunities. The lessons from the pilot year were as valuable as the outcomes. Market trust, investor liquidity, and alignment between startup readiness and capital availability are as critical as technical development. The team adapted - refining investor profiling, prioritising partnership storytelling, and embedding workflow systems for smoother coordination. ACDR in 2026 will focus on profitability, platform optimisation, and establishing itself as the go-to infrastructure for capital access across Africa.
28
AfriLabs Annual Report 2025
AfriLabs Connect Deal Room (ACDR)
29
www.afrilabs.com
World Food Programme (WFP) IGNITE: Capital Where It Is Hardest to Reach Designed to support agribusiness-focused micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in South Sudan, the WFP IGNITE Challenge shows that capital access is not only a problem in established markets. In South Sudan, AfriLabs supported 11 agribusiness MSMEs through competitive selection, structured training, mentorship, and USD $325,000 in catalytic grant funding - 45% of the cohort were women. The programme focused on increasing revenue, improving production efficiency, creating jobs, and building climate- resilient food systems in one of the world’s most fragile economic contexts. That AfriLabs can operate effectively across the capital spectrum - from ACDR’s digital deal infrastructure to IGNITE’s ground- level grants - reflects the full range of its ecosystem role.
$10M in early investment opportunities facilitated via ACDR $2.7M disbursed directly to hubs and startups
$325K in catalytic grants via WFP IGNITE
30
AfriLabs Annual Report 2025
VERTICAL 6 — HEALTH · PHASE 2
In 2025, Africa’s health innovators built real solutions – and AfriLabs gave them the first room. This is where the story starts.
31
www.afrilabs.com
VERTICAL 6 — HEALTH · PHASE 2
Africa carries a disproportionate share of the world’s disease burden and a proportionally small share of its health infrastructure investment. Health tech on the continent is growing - but it needs more than capital. It needs visibility, coordination, and the kind of peer ecosystem that turns isolated innovations into replicable models. In 2025, AfriLabs made its first deliberate activation of this vertical through the Afreximbank Healthcare Hackathon -
delivered under the SME Development Forum at the Intra-African Trade Fair - which created a structured platform for African health innovators to present solutions, access feedback, and connect with partners and investors. This was reinforced at the AfriLabs Annual Gathering, where a dedicated Health Track focused on innovative financing models for HealthTech scale.
The health vertical was activated in 2025, and in 2026, it will be built.
32
AfriLabs Annual Report 2025
VERTICAL 7 — INFRASTRUCTURE · PHASE 2
Across 528 hubs in 53 countries, what we built in 2025 was the wiring that held everything else together, sometimes invisibly.
33
www.afrilabs.com
VERTICAL 7 — INFRASTRUCTURE · PHASE 2
The most important infrastructure is invisible. Nobody notices the pipes until they leak, the platform until it goes down, or the coordination system until it fails. In 2025, AfriLabs invested in the infrastructure that holds everything else up.
The Network as Backbone
supported talent development through the Business Process Outsourcing programme.
AfriLabs reached 528 innovation hubs operating across 232 cities in 53 countries - with 336 hubs actively engaged in programmes, learning opportunities, and network activities during the year. The scale of this footprint is only meaningful if it is connected. That is what Member Services built in 2025: structured onboarding for new hubs, Listening Tours that engaged 172 representatives from 28 countries and produced six community insight reports, and expanded use of AfriConnect and ACDR as consistent, scalable infrastructure for communication and collaboration across the network.
Across the network, webinars and masterclasses reached more than 600 participants from over 35 countries. The Member Services team facilitated access to 37 funding, learning, and delegation opportunities for member hubs - not by providing financial support directly, but by building the coordination infrastructure that makes opportunity accessible.
Further Programme Reach in 2025
AfriLabs’ 17 programmes in 2025 extended beyond the flagship initiatives covered in the vertical chapters. The GCA (Global Center on Adaption) Youth Adaptation Challenge - Francophone Cohort - supported young people across French-speaking Africa in building climate adaptation solutions, directly reinforcing the Environmental Resilience vertical. The United Nations Population Funds (UNFPA) Incubation Programme supported reproductive health and population-focused innovation, advancing both the Health and Gender verticals simultaneously. Meanwhile, the African- Europe Innovation Platform (AEIP) strengthened collaboration corridors
Digital Platforms That Extend Reach
The Ukamili Digital City project strengthened digital city infrastructure in partnership with National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI), whose collaboration at GITEX Nigeria highlighted AfriLabs’ ability to turn high-level engagement into tangible startup opportunities. Meanwhile, the partnership with the African Telecommunications Union expanded access to digital infrastructure and
34
AfriLabs Annual Report 2025
between African and European innovation ecosystems, complementing EMERGE EU’s clean energy focus. On the digital infrastructure side, MSwitch supported digital infrastructure expansion and contributed to talent development initiatives across the network. The EUIPO Intellectual Property Awareness Webinar strengthened knowledge around IP
protection among innovators and hubs - a foundational issue for any ecosystem where creators and founders are building products with commercial potential. These programmes collectively demonstrate the breadth of AfriLabs’ reach: from climate adaptation to reproductive health, from IP education to cross-continental collaboration infrastructure.
528 innovation hubs in 53 countries 172 hub representatives in Listening Tours
600+ participants in pan-network webinars
35
www.afrilabs.com
VERTICAL 8 — CREATIVE TECHNOLOGY · PHASE 2
Afrobeats crossed every border. African film sold out every screen. In 2025, AfriLabs asked: why isn’t the tech ecosystem in that conversation?
36
AfriLabs Annual Report 2025
VERTICAL 8 — CREATIVE TECHNOLOGY · PHASE 2
for creators, and position African cultural production within the global digital economy. AfriLabs’ participation in GITEX Nigeria 2025 shaped national dialogue on enabling regulation and AI adoption within the creative economy. The launch of NASENI InnovateNaija Challenge within that context demonstrated AfriLabs’ ability to translate high-level engagement into tangible opportunities for startups working at the intersection of creativity and technology.
Africa’s creative economy is one of the continent’s most visible global exports. Music, film, fashion, and art have demonstrated that African cultural production can scale globally and command global markets. The question AfriLabs began asking in 2025 is a natural one: what happens when that creative energy is paired with the technology and infrastructure to take it further? The AfriLabs Annual Gathering’s Creative Digital Economy Track put that question on a main stage for the first time - exploring how technology can scale Africa’s creative industries, create new economic models
This vertical is at its beginning. The conversation has started, and the programmes will follow.
Creativer Digital Economy Tracck participants at the 2025 AfriLabs Annual Gathering
37
www.afrilabs.com
03 The Gathering That Changed the Conversation Since 2016, Africa’s innovation ecosystem has convened annually at the AfriLabs
The milestone edition achieved two historic firsts - participants from 71 countries globally, and a strategic home at the UN - signalling growing global recognition of Africa’s innovation leadership. More than a convening, AAG 2025 positioned Africa not just as a consumer of innovation, but as a producer of scalable, globally competitive solutions.
Annual Gathering (AAG), bringing together innovation hubs, startups, investors, and policymakers to foster collaboration. In 2025, it convened at the United Nations Office in Nairobi for the 10th AfriLabs Annual Gathering - co-hosted with UNDP timbuktoo under the theme “Building Resilience: Innovation, Inclusion & Shared Prosperity.”
38
AfriLabs Annual Report 2025
Participants at the 2025 AfriLabs Annual Gathering
39
www.afrilabs.com
The Build-Up: Candid Conversations Series
digital economy. These sessions directly shaped the Gathering’s agenda, surfacing clear ecosystem priorities - stronger support for hub sustainability, clearer pathways from incubation to investment, and the need for African-led frameworks on AI governance, which became central to the policy dialogue in Nairobi. Eight thematic tracks translated continental strategy into sector-specific action: AI and data governance, investment readiness, health innovation, gender inclusion, green and blue economy, hub sustainability, makerspaces, and the creative digital economy. Across sessions, conversations moved beyond theory to commitments - investors explored pipeline deals, hubs shared replicable governance models, and policymakers aligned on regulatory cooperation.
AAG 2025 did not begin on the day it opened. In the weeks leading up to the Gathering, AfriLabs ran the Candid Conversations Series - weekly, structured discussions across seven themes, including AI and data governance, the green and blue economy, gender inclusion, investment readiness, and the creative
Recognising Excellence: Hub Awards and the AfriLabs Gala
The Gathering closed with two landmark moments. The Hub Awards recognised excellence across Africa’s five regions, honouring innovation hubs for outstanding achievements in policy advocacy, ecosystem collaboration, and investment facilitation, while the AfriLabs Gala celebrated the network’s shared journey
and the richness of African culture - a reminder that ecosystem building is also about community, identity, and belonging. Together, the Awards and Gala ensured that the 10th Gathering was not only a milestone for Africa’s innovation economy, but a moment of recognition for the people who make it possible.
40
AfriLabs Annual Report 2025
Participants at the 2025 AfriLabs Annual Gathering Gala, Awards and Fashion Night
41
www.afrilabs.com
0
Professor Yemi Osibanjo, Former Vice President of Nigeria
Because when Africa innovates, the world progresses, and when the world looks for the future of innovation, it will find it right here in Africa
This AfriLabs Gathering is a testament that when men and women come together, we can build something resilient. It’s incredible what we can achieve when we do not care who takes the credit. And that is what AfriLabs is about, it is what Africa should be about
Michael Oluwagbemi, Founder, LoftyInc
Beyond the three days, AAG 2025 generated follow-on engagement across the network - investor-startup connections that continued into follow-up meetings, policy commitments on AI governance and gender-responsive financing, and increased visibility for African startups connecting with global partners. The Gathering was not just an event; it was an annual moment of ecosystem alignment that sent ripples across the continent long after it ended.
AfriLabs has shaped my journey as a consultant in project and programme management, digital communication and marketing, innovation Francophone ecosystem building, and advocacy for Central Africa’s entrepreneurship inclusion in Africa’s innovation space.
Alida Ebo’o, Central Africa Hubs Capacity Building Programme, Cameroon
42
AfriLabs Annual Report 2025
04 The From the Office of the Chief Operating Officer
Infrastructure Behind It All
Everything in this report, every founder supported, every hub strengthened, every policy conversation shaped is the result of systems working together behind the scenes. Impact at this scale does not happen by accident. It is built through deliberate coordination across people, platforms, and partnerships aligned to deliver consistently across countries, sectors, and stakeholders.
In 2025, the Office of the COO focused on strengthening that delivery engine - translating AfriLabs’ continental ambition into structured, repeatable execution. This meant improving coordination, advancing digital systems, and reinforcing the mechanisms that connect capital, policy, and ecosystems. The result is not just activity, but capacity: the ability to deliver impact reliably, at scale, and across contexts.
43
www.afrilabs.com
Community & Partnerships as Strategic Infrastructure
In 2025, AfriLabs approached partnerships as strategic infrastructure rather than transactional engagements - anchored in the strength and reach of its network of hubs across Africa. At a time of tightening global funding and shifting donor priorities, the organisation focused on disciplined fundraising, deliberate relationship-building, and stronger positioning within high-level policy, donor, and ecosystem conversations, while ensuring these partnerships translated into tangible value for its member hubs and their communities. The Airbnb Foundation provided USD$150,000 in unrestricted funding - strengthening operational flexibility at a pivotal time and enabling AfriLabs to allocate resources where they were most needed, regardless of project constraints. AfriLabs achieved CAF America accreditation in 2025, opening new philanthropic funding pathways and reinforcing institutional credibility with
global donors.
Strategic collaborations with Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI), National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), African Continental Free Trade (AfCFTA), African Telecommunication Union (ATU), GSM Association (GSMA), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) timbuktoo, Konza Technopolis, and others extended AfriLabs’ reach into national and continental policy forums, technical networks, and funding channels - creating new opportunities for hubs to engage, influence, and benefit from these ecosystems. Across 2025, over 200 organisations were engaged - not simply as collaborators, but as co-builders of the infrastructure that enables innovation to move across borders, sectors, and markets.
44
AfriLabs Annual Report 2025
People: A Pan-African Team
AfriLabs’ ability to deliver across 53 countries is grounded in the strength and structure of its team. AfriLabs operated in 2025 with 51 team members across nine countries - Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Ivory Coast, Tunisia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Ghana, and Cameroon. The organisation recruited 17 pan-African staff and completed several internal promotions following a comprehensive Project Performance and Impact Assessment, which recorded an average performance score of 75.97 per cent. These were not just staffing decisions, but investments in delivery capacity, ensuring the organisation has the expertise and leadership required to execute complex,
multi-country programmes.
70% of staff received sponsored training through strategic partnerships with WIPO Academy and DisasterReady.org, addressing skill gaps identified through the appraisal process. A structured culture alignment initiative established a clear baseline for shared values and behaviours across the organisation, and the revised AfriLabs Employee Manual was launched in an interactive e-book format. People management partnerships with Grey Insights, AXA Mansard, SeamlessHR, LoubbyAI, Workforce Group, and CV People Africa strengthened talent acquisition, retention, and development at scale across a distributed, pan-African team.
45
www.afrilabs.com
Communications, PR & Events: Reach that Reflects Impact
In 2025, AfriLabs strengthened its communication and visibility platforms as a core part of its delivery infrastructure - extending reach, shaping narrative, and connecting ecosystem actors at scale. We reached over 7.15 million people across its digital platforms - a 3.7 per cent increase from the previous year - driven by a deliberate content strategy that balanced ecosystem-wide narratives with programme-level storytelling. The organisation generated 56+ press mentions, 35 press releases, and 170+
media quotes, with coverage spanning TechCabal, Disrupt Africa, BBC, Channels TV, and Arise News.
A key focus was unifying AfriLabs’ messaging across programmes,
partnerships, and regional engagements - strengthening brand recognition and positioning AfriLabs as a credible pan- African ecosystem builder rather than a collection of disconnected projects. AfriLabs participated in 20+ high-level global events including UNGA, the AU Digital Summit, and AIM Congress.
How It Comes Together
AfriLabs’ delivery model is built on three interconnected systems: partnerships that unlock scale, platforms that extend reach, and people who execute across contexts. Together, these systems enable AfriLabs to operate not just as a network, but as infrastructure - connecting capital, knowledge, and opportunity across Africa’s innovation ecosystems.
Ajibola Odukoya Chief Operating Officer, AfriLabs
46
AfriLabs Annual Report 2025
The Moonshot: What Comes Next
The Moonshot is a long-term commitment. The verticals that guided AfriLabs in 2025 will guide it in 2026, 2027, and beyond, each year telling a different story within the same framework, each year advancing the arc. As the verticals mature, AfriLabs will deepen its work to track and demonstrate its contribution to that shift, starting with the evidence base UNDP timbuktoo, WISE AI, and EMERGE are building in 2026.
A Leadership Transition Rooted in Legacy
continuity, and operational consistency - with a transparent recruitment process underway and a comprehensive handover framework to safeguard strategy, partnerships, and programme execution. Following the transition, Anna will remain connected to AfriLabs as a member of the Advisory Council. The organisation enters 2026 stable, mission-driven, and future-focused. The structures put in place, the partnerships nurtured, and the leadership within the network ensure that what has been built will continue to grow.
AfriLabs begins 2026 at a defining moment - anchored in institutional maturity, credibility, and scale. Under Anna Ekeledo’s decade of leadership, the organisation evolved from a network of fewer than 50 hubs to over 500 across 53 African countries. Her tenure strengthened governance, professionalised operations, shaped continental innovation policy, and positioned AfriLabs as a trusted interlocutor across the ecosystem. Anna concludes her tenure as Executive Director within the first half of 2026. The transition is designed to ensure stability,
AfriLabs has also been instrumental in opening doors for us to new partnerships, funding opportunities, and visibility across the broader ecosystem. Dahirou Djamo, ActivSpaces Cameroon
47
www.afrilabs.com
Three Moonshot Priorities for 2026
01 Scale with Intention Deeper engagement with hubs, rather than merely expanding its network. Strategic geographic focus on regions with the largest ecosystem gaps or hubs with the potential to drive broader impact. All initiatives hub-enabled, evidence-driven, and inclusive, advancing Phase 1 verticals from building toward scaling.
02 Strengthen Sustainability
Diversified revenue streams to reduce reliance on any single funder. Expanded programmatic revenue through AfriLabs’ products - ACDR, AfriLabs Academy, and AfriConnect - as self-sustaining platforms. Deepened existing partnerships while establishing new relationships with multilateral agencies, corporates, philanthropies, and governments.
03 Elevate Ecosystem Leadership
Evidence-based policy engagement, drawing on UNDP timbuktoo mapping data, WISE AI study findings, and EMERGE policy recommendations. Convenings that connect hubs, investors, policymakers, and innovators. Thought leadership that shapes global narratives about African
48
AfriLabs Annual Report 2025
Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53Made with FlippingBook - Online Brochure Maker