AfriLabs Programmes
To improve the capacity, sustainability and impact of our community members, we host trainings and workshops, and provide access to funding and other resources.
AfriLabs Capacity Building Programme
Over the years, AfriLabs has carried out research on African hub needs, capacity gaps, and best practices. Based on this research, AfriLabs designs and runs a series of initiatives targeting hubs. These initiatives have now been updated and expanded into the AfriLabs Capacity Building Programme (ACBP), A 2m euro capacity building project, being implemented thanks to Agence Française de Développement (AFD)’s support through the Digital Africa seed fund.
We are confident that strengthening hubs will have a multiplier effect and contribute to growing the African innovation ecosystem while increasing the percentage of successful and investment-ready startups on the continent.
Catalytic Africa
The Catalytic Africa Programme is a cross-stakeholder initiative instigated by AfriLabs in conjunction with African Business Angels Network (ABAN). It aims to strengthen entrepreneurs, startups, hubs and angel investors while delivering impact results to institutional funders.
The programme raises two types of funds: Debt or Grant, which are sourced from various institutional partners to create a pool. This pool serves as a matching or a co-investment fund to encourage investment in viable AfriLabs-affiliated startups i.e: ventures working with any AfriLabs Members Hubs by verified angel investors.
The Global EdTech Hub
The EdTech Hub is a collaboration between the Overseas Development Institute, Faculty of Education at the University of Cambridge, Results for Development, Open Development and Education, Brink, Jigsaw Consult, BRAC, AfriLabs, and eLearning Africa.
Funded by the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) – formerly DFID, the World Bank and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the EdTech Hub seeks to help improve education technology in developing countries. AfriLabs is a regional partner of The EdTech Hub.
Rapid Analysis of Innovation Response (RAIR) to COVID-19 Pandemic (Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa)
AfriLabs in partnership with the KTN Global Alliance worked on a rapid analysis of challenges, impact and innovation response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa, with a focus on Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa. The aim of the analysis is to inform intending support from the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO) – formerly DFID and the KTN Global Alliance to innovation systems in Africa to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as to provide lessons and best practices to strengthen the innovation response to future crises.
COVIDaction
COVIDaction, a partnership between Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO) – formerly DFID Frontier Technology Hub, Global Disability Innovation Hub (GDI Hub), UCL Institute of Healthcare Engineering worked to build a technology and innovation pipeline to support activities related to the COVID-19 pandemic, with a focus on Africa. AfriLabs is a member of this intervention, leading the execution of the ‘Local Production Local Solution’ initiative that is part of the programme.
Rollo Africa
Rollo Africa, backed by the AU, UNDP and AfriLabs, is a capacity-building programme dedicated to supporting Medium and Small African Enterprises facing challenges to survive after the COVID-19 outbreak and to provide evidence-based policy guidance on the most impactful stimulus packages and the creation of new support models using evidence-based data gathered through the innovative Rollo21 simulation model on MSMEs. The pilot stage of the project took place in Senegal, Cameroon, Zimbabwe, Sudan and Egypt between December 2020 – February 2021.
AGA Innovation Challenge - Accelerator Training: Democracy And Governance In Africa
The African Union – African Governance Architecture (AGA) organized a Youth Innovation Challenge which called for African innovators, incubation centers as well as innovation hubs with initiatives that contribute to democracy and good governance. Applications were sent in from across Africa and the diaspora, a total of 20 innovators were shortlisted to receive support beginning from a one-week intensive virtual accelerator programme. The virtual accelerator programme was implemented under the AGA – COMESA (Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa) joint project on youth engagement in democratic governance and sociology economic development processes in Africa in support of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). The virtual accelerator was developed and executed by AfriLabs from the 23rd to 30th November 2020.
