Opportunities are opening to young people with high tech skills such as software engineering, design, and development. Many of these skills are being nurtured by Information Communication (ICT) hubs, where technology-oriented individuals gather and collaborate. An ICT hub is a space where technologists congregate to bounce ideas around, network, work, program and design. This is achieved through an enabling environment where community of tech entrepreneurs can grow and innovative ideas can be born from collaborations and the atmosphere of the co-working space.  One example of an ICT hub within Nairobi is the *iHub_.

Last year, at the launch of the iHub in Nairobi, Bill Zimmerman (ActivSpaces), Jon Gosier (Hive Colab), Erik Hersman (iHub), Bart Lacroix (1% Club) and myself came together to discuss the emergence of technology incubators on the continent. Especially this idea that the labs we see coming online are often independent initiatives i.e. either a single entrepreneur or small group of entrepreneurs coming together to form an open collaboration space for the local tech community. 

After a flurry of entries and a lot of back and forth it seems we finally have a logo for Afrilabs. Bill and his team in Cameroon are working hard to launch the website. Let you know when its up!!

On March 3rd 2010, founders from several established African tech incubators and open collaboration spaces @HiveColab @iHub @Appfrica Labs @NaiLab @Bantalabs @ActivSpaces came together for the iHub launch in Nairobi. The meeting hosted by Nailab (an iHub neighbor) made clear that each of the labs shares in a common vision to promote technology as a platform for entrepreneurship on the continent. The labs have a lot to gain by working together and it was in this thinking that Afrilabs was born.