Category: AfriConEU

Updates on the AfriConEU Consortium
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Bridging the Policy Gaps for an Inclusive Innovation Ecosystem

In Nigeria, certain policies  have negatively impacted the innovation ecosystem either directly or through implementation failures. Some of which include the ban on bike hailing platforms like Gokada, ban of fintechs from offering bank verification number validation services, ban on cryptocurrency etc. However, there are promising developments such as the introduction of the Nigeria Startup Act and the National Blockchain Policy, which have the potential to bring about positive changes in the innovation ecosystem. We will delve into these recent policies in the remaining part of this article.

One of the outcomes of the AfriConEU project is to produce a report that provides policy recommendations to be included in the blueprint for trans-continental collaborations in Ghana, Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda. In line with this, on May 18th, 2023, Emerging Communities Africa (ECA), a partner on the AfriConEU project, organised a policy roundtable discussion at Enspire Hub in Abuja. The event, titled “Bridging the Policy Gaps for an Inclusive Innovation Ecosystem,” brought together African policymakers from various sectors, local DIHs, startups and other European policy experts to discuss and provide policy recommendations and implementation approaches. 

The event started with an introduction by Promise from Buni Hub, Tanzania, a member of the AfriConEU consortium; she provided an overview of the AfriConEU Project. During her presentation, she highlighted the upcoming boot camps that will take place in four African countries, as well as the capitalization event scheduled to be held in Europe later this year.

After Promise’s introduction, Peace Odili, the ED of ECA, gave a summary of the State of Play report, a research conducted in 2021 by ATBN in the four African ecosystems to draft  evidence-based policy recommendations for collaboration between these ecosystems. Peace presentation established the context for the discussions that followed with focus on the Nigerian ecosystem.

Nwanne Nwonwu Programs Coordinator(AfriConEU Project), ECA gave a summary of the The Nigeria Startup Act (NSA), which is aimed at ensuring that Nigeria’s laws and regulations are clear, planned and work for the tech ecosystem. She gave insight to some of the benefits that the act provides such as Startup labelling(for startups less than 10 years), Startup Investment Seed fund (a minimum of ₦10B annual fund for labelled/licensed startups), Regulation Support (to ease technology transfer),  Startup  Engagement portal (for interaction between startups and the government) and lots more.

Adraino Mauro from  DIGILOGIC a fellow member of the ICT-58 family  took the stage next and gave a 20 mins presentation on how DIGILOGIC is building bridges between the islands of innovation scattered across Europe and Africa to build the first Smart Logistic Pan EU-Africa Digital Innovation Hub (DIH) fostering a broad digital transformation in the African logistics sector.  His presentation highlighted some of the challenges these DIHs face including; 

(i) Heavy reliance on public funding, (ii) Hardship in retaining qualified staff as they are quickly  stolen by ICT industries, (iii) DIHs offer trainings that are too basic for the start ups and innovators needs, (iv) DIHs not offering test before invest services and (v) DIHs are yet to be specialised.

The final session was the panel discussion which featured Tracy Okoro –  State Adoption and Domestication Lead, Nigerian Startup Act, Anderson Emmanuel – Founder Mipple Technologies Limited, Olaoluwa Olorunnisomo – Co-founder, Seedbuilders Innovation Hub, Dr Ephraim Chukwuka Okejiri – Director, National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP), and Hauwa Ibrahim Hadejia, Assistant Manager, Legal Enforcement and Regulations Unit, Nigeria Data Protection Bureau  (NDPB) and was moderated by Nwanne Nwonwu. 

The panel highlighted the existing disconnect between the government and startups, making it challenging for startups to thrive in Nigeria. To address this issue, the NSA team worked together to create policies that foster an enabling environment for founders and talents in the innovation ecosystem and the adoption process has started with 6 states in Nigeria already covered.

The panel also addressed the need to connect different ecosystems to facilitate the exchange of talents between them. Measures were discussed, including training and retaining the right talents through initiatives such as remote work, hourly charges, and milestone-based engagement rather than strict 9-5 working hours. It also stated that there is a  concentration of ecosystems in two major cities; Lagos and Abuja, and recommended that states establish their own ecosystems to engage talents within their regions and prevent migration to the major cities.

Another important topic discussed was the National Blockchain Policy that was recently announced by the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy (FMCDE) .  Mr Anderson stated that The blockchain policy is an important move by the government to accommodate blockchain innovation in the country after the ban on crypto, although there is still no clarity as to how the government intends to implement the policy.

Data privacy was also emphasised. The NDPB shared its efforts in developing a centralised database while simultaneously protecting distributed data in schools, banks, hospitals, and other sectors. They also highlighted the focus on providing data support for startups and facilitating cross-border data sharing. 

Mr Olaoluwa also discussed the recently announced $618 million tech fund to support the tech and creative sectors for young investors who struggle to raise capital launched by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo under the Investment in  Digital and Creative Enterprises (iDICE) programme. He stated that reaching out to the diaspora for early-stage startup investments will be a good way to raise funds for this cause and support tech4good.

The panel concluded by emphasising the need to map stakeholders beyond the tech ecosystem when implementing new policies, conducting public awareness campaigns about existing policies, making it mandatory for state-owned parastatals to engage in trans-continental partnerships bi-annually, and involving the people affected by the policies in the policy-making process. Implementation plans for policies were also emphasised as crucial for effective policy outcomes.

AfriConEUBusiness

Building and Using a Network of Funding Sources

In the past years, there has been a growing focus on developing new funding models and leveraging existing networks to support innovative projects and startups in Africa. One of the main drivers of this trend has been the rise of digital innovation hubs, incubators and accelerators in Africa, which have helped to connect entrepreneurs and innovators with the resources and networks. Additionally, a number of new funding initiatives and programs have been launched in recent years, aimed at supporting the growth of small businesses and startups in Africa.

Despite these efforts, however, many entrepreneurs and innovators continue to face significant challenges when it comes to accessing funding and other resources to support their projects. This is why the workshop on “Building and Using a Network of Funding Sources” organized by Emerging Communities Africa (ECA) as part of the AfriConEU Networking Academy activities aims to provide valuable insights on how to identify and access funding sources, and how to build a sustainable partnership framework for innovative projects.

The workshop held on Thursday, January 26th, 2023, at The Nest Hub, Yaba, Lagos Nigeria and online via zoom and brought together a diverse group of individuals and organizations in academia, business and government, all of whom were interested in learning more about how to access and utilize funding sources to support innovative projects and drive economic growth in Africa.

The workshop began with a presentation by Bankole Oloruntoba, CEO Nigeria Climate Innovation Center (NCIC) on the concept of an innovation lifecycle. He explained how understanding the different stages of an innovation’s development can help entrepreneurs identify the best funding sources for their projects. Additionally, He highlighted the difference in accessing private sector funding, government funding, and funds from foreign sources. He later went on to clarify that accelerator and incubation differ and a startup will need pre-incubation at its ideation phase to produce a prototype after that it needs incubation to gain market entry and will only require acceleration when it needs growth and scaling.

Following Bankole’s presentation, Ireayomide Oladunjoye, Immediate past Head, Lagos Innovates (Lagos State Employment Trust Fund) spoke on the various funding sources available to entrepreneurs, including government grants, venture capital (VC), and crowdfunding. She stressed on the fact that at an early stage, bootstrapping or funding from friends and family is advisable and a business should only consider VCs when they have started making revenue.

The workshop then featured a panel session with Amarachi Nwachukwu, co-founder MendHQ, Mike Rosanje, CEO Cashbuddy, Ibrahim Ajala, co-founder VS Creatives, and Joba Oloba, co-founder The Nest Hub. The panelists shared each of their company’s funding stories and offered valuable insights into the challenges and opportunities of securing funding for innovative projects. One of the panelists mentioned that more than funding, the environment also played a vital role in determining the success of their organization.

Next, Joba Oloba, Co-founder The Nest Innovation Technology Park, discussed the concept of an innovation ecosystem and how to map it. He emphasized the importance of understanding the different players and resources in a local innovation ecosystem and how they can be leveraged to support the growth of innovative projects. He focused on the academia as a driver of research into current problems and innovative solutions and how the academia and DIHs should collaborate on upskilling programs.

To wrap up the event, attendees participated in a group activity session where they worked together to propose a sustainable funding/partnership framework for innovative projects. The goal of the activity was to explore and maximize opportunities that could bring economic growth to target markets. Group A devised a plan to scale the export of high-quality leather from Aba, a city in Abia, Nigeria using technology, while Group B developed a partnership strategy to bridge the institution and industry mismatch using digital innovation hubs as enablers.

At the close of the workshop, participants were able to describe funding sources within their innovation ecosystem, match financing sources to project needs, describe the role of DIHs as reference points, and understand best practices for maximizing funding opportunities and collaboration.

AfriConEU

TRANS-CONTINENTAL PARTNERSHIPS: AfriConEU Project – Enabling and Empowering the African Innovation Ecosystem Through Digital Innovation Hubs.

Digital innovation has become an increasingly important driver for Africa’s social and economic development in past few years. Digital technologies are providing solutions to the region’s pressing social concerns while also opening diverse new business opportunities.
The AfriConEU is an Horizon 2020 project centered around the improvement and creation of sustainable strategies to include partnerships between African and European Digital Innovation Hubs (DIHs) to foster digital growth and economic development through the establishment of a Trans-Continental Networking Academy for capacity building, information sharing, networking collaborations, joint projects, and venture development. This project would strengthen African DIHs’ ability to expedite the economy’s digital transformation.
The AfriConEU Project is set to achieve this goal by developing, testing, and validating a mechanism to share learnings, best practices, experiences, and resources between DIHs in Africa and the European Union (EU) in a way that is aggregated, easy to understand, replicable and self-sustaining. This Networking Academy, envisioned to empower both African and European Innovation Ecosystem will build local industries, boost innovation ecosystems, support the scale-up of African start-ups and empower the youth population with the necessary skills to thrive in a digitalized world.
Implementation of the Academy will be through the creation of an online multi-actor community (the AfriConEU Community) to facilitate dialogue, experience sharing, and collaboration between stakeholders from both continents. Eleven Partners across both continents on the project includes; Inova+ Innovation Services, SA (Portugal), Emerging Communities Tech-Up Organization (Nigeria), Youthmakers Hub Astiki Mi Kerdoskopiki Etaireia (Greece), Associacao Porto Business School-U.Porto (Portugal), Outbox U Ltd (Uganda), Dpixel SRL (Italy), Stimmuli for Social Change (Greece), ITC-Inovacijsko Tehnoloski Grozd Murska Sohota (Slovenia), Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology (Tanzania), Africa Technology Business Network C.I.C (United Kingdom), HapaFoundation (Ghana).
Deliverables have been divided into various parts like: Context and State of the Art Analysis, Development of the AfriConEU Networking Academy, Roll out implementation and assessment, Community development and results uptake, e.t.c.
Emerging Communities Africa (ECA), Nigeria – a non-profit organization focused on catalyzing technology development to solve problems in underserved communities, leads the Stakeholder Engagement segment as part of Phase 4 of the project, which is the implementation and assessment phase. Focus will be on design of engagement strategies, and it is expected to run from January – April 2022 with series of engagement activities within this timeline. These activities will be performed in Akure (Nigeria), (as well as Kampala, Kumasi, and Tanzania respectively) with the aim of gathering local ecosystem actors to inform them about the Academy’s proposed resources and activities.
The first activity of these series of engagements will commence with a virtual Pre-Stakeholder’s Engagement targeted at key stakeholders in the Nigerian Innovation Ecosystem -Academia, Private Sector and Government to share knowledge and chart a path for fostering collaboration between DIH in Africa and Europe.
Predominantly, this project will enhance and foster insightful collaborative activities tailored towards knowledge sharing and Partnership Development programmes of the AfriConEU Networking Academy whilst strengthening the digital innovation ecosystem in Africa.

To learn more and stay updated on the AfriConEU Project;
Follow @africoneu on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn, visit https://africoneu.eu/
Contact person: Executive Director, Emerging Communities Africa, Miss Peace Odili
Email: info@emergingcommunities.africa , website: emergingcommunities.africa/