The African Incubator Network (AIN) has attracted significant attention over the previous few months. The goal of the AIN is to develop a collaborative Pan-African network of business incubators and other business development service providers. The results of the three workshops held in July helped to move the AIN further towards this goal.
Engaging with all relevant stakeholders, three workshops recently held in Mozambique, Uganda and Ghana moved the AIN closer to its goal of building the innovation and business incubation agenda across the African continent. These events were hosted jointly by infoDev, Softstart BTI, MICTI, UIRI, BusyInternet, with the support of SEDA Technology Program, SPEED, and GIMIC.
The southern African regional workshop was held in Mozambique from 8 to 10 July, 2007 and was opened by Hon. Minister of Science & Technology of Mozambique, Prof. Dr. Eng. Venâncio Massingue. The Minister shared his excitement regarding the concept of the African Incubator Network and was enthusiastic about the future of the network and its role in promoting the agenda in the Region. This event attracted more than fifty key stakeholders representing countries such as Angola, Botswana, Ghana, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, South-Africa, Uganda and Zambia.
The eastern Africa workshop took place in Uganda from 12 – 13 July 2007 and was opened by the Hon. Minister of Tourism, Trade and Industry, Ms. Janat Mukwaya, who confirmed her support for incubation across Africa and specifically the need to develop regional business support infrastructure. This event attracted 56 business incubation professionals from Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, South-Africa, Tanzania and Uganda.
The western Africa workshop was held in Ghana from 16 – 17 July 2007, and gathered over fifty business incubation professionals, business development service providers, government decision-makers and higher education representatives from West Africa, including Senegal, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Benin, Ghana, and representatives from South-Africa, Uganda and Canada also participated. This workshop was opened by the Minister of Communication, Dr. Benjamin Agrey-Ntim who highlighted that the “Government of Ghana on its part remains committed to facilitating policy development aimed at promoting business development that will ensure that business startups are equipped with the necessary grounding to survive and be competitive in the global market”.
The results of all three workshops are critical to the further building and success of the AIN. Participants agreed that the AIN should focus on the following key areas of importance:
- Creation of a knowledge repository that would be available across the entire network as an online portal and website with knowledge sharing tools and capabilities available to all interested stakeholders.
- Raising awareness on the importance of business incubation to economic development with business professionals, policy makers and regulatory agencies, as well as with the international donor community.
- Promoting the AIN across the continent with governments, the private sector, tertiary institutions and incubators using various communication tools including newsletters, press releases and knowledge sharing activities.
- Building Capacity within the Network using the training resources on iDISC and the AIN portal. A training needs assessment and curriculum development will be undertaken.
- Actively train future incubator professionals to become successful and dedicated Incubator Managers and trainers (train-the-trainer).
At all levels the sharing of knowledge and strengthening of linkages amongst all stakeholders was identified as key to the successful achievement of the AIN’s unified objective – to provide the right environment for successful growth of businesses to facilitate rapid economic development in Africa.
For more information about the network and its activities, please contact infoDev's Regional Facilitator for Africa, Mr. Steve Giddings, at sgiddings(at)worldbank.org.