As the backbone of AfriLabs’ community engagement, AfriLabs Connect continued to evolve in 2024, offering new features designed to foster deeper collaboration among hubs, startups, investors, and ecosystem players. The platform’s user engagement metrics underscored its growing influence—tracking an increasing number of active users, professional connections, and facilitated interactions that led to investment opportunities, knowledge exchange, and partnerships. With a focus on usability and accessibility, AfriLabs Connect integrated localized content and strategic partnerships to ensure that innovation stakeholders from diverse backgrounds could leverage the platform effectively. Whether through startup-founder matching, investor networking, or real-time resource sharing, the enhancements made in 2024 reinforced AfriLabs Connect as a catalyst for pan- African and global collaboration. AfriLabs Academy continued its mission of empowering innovation enablers through targeted learning programs. In 2024, new courses were introduced under Hub Management and Digital Entrepreneurship Skills (DES)—two critical areas that support the sustainability and scalability of African startups. Recognizing the diversity of Africa’s innovation ecosystem, the Hub Management Course was developed in both Anglophone and Francophone versions, breaking language barriers and ensuring accessibility for a broader audience. Designed for hub managers, academic institutions, entrepreneurial support organizations, and investors, these courses were crafted to enhance ecosystem development and capacity building. The impact of these efforts was evident in the participation rates and success stories emerging from the Academy. By January 2025, the Digital Entrepreneurship Skills Course had recorded 435 enrolled users, with 169 certificates awarded. More
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