In an article "Africa looks to incubators to spark ICT," the author John Yarney looks at the efforts being undertaken by some African countries to promote technology incubation centers, as a way to bolster national ICT development. The three technology incubation centers highlighted include Busy Internet in Ghana, National Computer Board ICT Incubation Center in Mauritius, and the Bodibeng Technology Incubator in South Africa. The first two incubators, Busy Internet in Ghana, National Computer Board ICT Incubation Center in Mauritius have received financing from infoDev under its Incubator Initiative.

About the Incubator Initiative: 

infoDev's Incubator Initiative, launched in 2002 with resources from the Government of Japan, is aimed at fostering entrepreneurship and private sector development in developing countries. The Incubator Initiative is dedicated, over an initial three-year period, to the establishment of a network of incubators to facilitate the emergence and development of small and medium size Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) enterprises in developing countries. One of the mechanisms employed to nurture small firms for more than two decades is "business incubation," providing qualifying new start-up businesses with a set of facilities -- physical space, shared services, business and legal advice, and financial inputs -- to facilitate their creation and assist them until "graduation," when they have the capacity to "survive" in the outside competitive environment.

About The Global Forum On Business Incubation:

infoDev, The Department of Science and Technology of the Government of India, and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry organized a Global Forum on Business Incubation in New Delhi from October 14-19th, 2004.

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