The goal of AIN is to develop a collaborative network of African incubators and other business development service providers, and to facilitate the provision of appropriate knowledge to support the development of innovative small enterprises.

Regional Snapshot

27 organizations in 11 countries throughout Africa.

Regional Statistics

iDISC - the infoDev Incubator Support Center - is a virtual networking and knowledge-sharing platform for incubators and technology parks leveraging ICT to facilitate entrepreneurship and new business creation in developing countries. More

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Africa

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infoDev provides support to business incubator projects in several African countries, with sub-regions in South, East and West Africa, and works in close partnership with the growing African Incubator Network to which it also provides financial support. Business incubators are not yet widespread in Africa, but with a growing population of innovators and entrepreneurs, business incubation is seen as an important facilitator of small enterprise development.

Africa business incubation network, overview (2008)

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Highlights

Innovative Firms or Innovative Owners? Determinants of Innovation in Micro and SMEs

Innovation is key to technology adoption and creation, and to explaining the vast differences in productivity across and within countries. Owner ability, personality traits, and ethnicity have a significant and substantial impact on the likelihood of a firm innovating, confirming the importance of the entrepreneur in the innovation process. More

infoDev Announces Winners of Global Innovators Contest 2009 Following a call for candidates in March for the Global Innovators 2009 contest, infoDev is pleased to announce that it has selected eleven entrepreneurs whose success stories will be highlighted at infoDev's 3rd Global Forum on Innovation & Entrepreneurship in October 2009.

Technology Transfer Facilitation - Online Discussion! The purpose of this online discussion is to explore how developing countries can best facilitate the transfer and commercialization of technology from research institutions - whether from within their domestic institutions; between developing countries; or between developing and industrialized nations.

The 2009 Tech Awards - Call for Nominations The Tech awards committee - Technology benefiting humanity - is currently accepting 2009 nominations. Five laureates are recognized in each of the categories: Environment, Economic Development, Education, Equality and Health, and one laurete from each category receives a $50,000 prize.

A Message from infoDev's Program Manager: Send us your input - help shape the Global Forum agenda! Ms. Valerie D'Costa, infoDev's Program Manager, invites you to reflect on the theme for the 3rd infoDev Global Forum on Business Incubation - Innovation and Venture Creation for Inclusive Development - and send us your thoughts to help shape the Global Forum 2009 agenda and activities.

Apply to Be a 2009 Global Forum Innovator infoDev is seeking 15-20 successful entrepreneurs working on innovations in sectors such as agriculture, information technology, tourism and sustainable energy / clean technology. Successful applicants will be named 2009 Global Forum Innovators and have their stories highlighted at the 3rd infoDev Global Forum on Innovation & Entrepreneurship in October 2009.

Development Marketplace 2009 Grant Competition on "Climate Adaptation" The Development Marketplace is a competitive grant program administered by the World Bank. The 2009 global competition is funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and additional DM partners. It aims to identify 20 to 25 innovative, early-stage projects addressing climate adaptation. The DM is a unique opportunity to turn your idea into reality; if selected your project could receive up to US$200,000 in grant funding for implementation over two years.

Network Member in Rwanda Named Finalist for NBIA 2009 Incubator of the Year Award The Technology and Business Incubation Facility in Kigali, Rwanda, has been named a finalist for the National Business Incubation Association’s 2009 Incubator of the Year award in the nontechnology category. The winner of the prestigious award will be announced on April 21, 2009 at NBIA’s 23rd International Conference on Business Incubation in Kansas City, USA.

Update: New Date and Location for the 3rd infoDev Global Forum on Business Incubation 2009 The 3rd Global Forum on Business Incubation will be held in Florianopolis, Brazil on October 26-30, 2009. This new date and location enables both partners to integrate the 3rd infoDev Global Forum with ANPROTEC's 19th Brazilian National Seminar on Science Parks and Business Incubation.

Request for Expressions of Interest: Consultant Services, Business Incubator Manager Training infoDev has received financing from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) toward the cost of developing a state-of-the-art business incubation training program targeting business incubator managers in developing countries, and intends to apply part of the proceeds for consultant services.

infoDev's Global Working Group on Youth & Innovation Launches Newsletter Initiated and financed by infoDev, the Global Working Group on Youth & Innovation already comprises more than 20 experts from infoDev's Global Network of Business Incubators, committed to fostering youth entrepreneurship within the broader context of innovation and business incubation. Read the Working Group's first activity update. Global Network members are welcome to join!

Working Group on Women-Focused Business Incubation: Project Update & Competition Following a Request for Proposals infoDev has provided grants for building three global thematic work groups as part of infoDev’s 's Global Incubation Network. These work groups are being set up for learning more about how to effectively serve women and youth through business incubation and about models for spurring high growth enterprises in ICT-enabled sectors in the poorer developing countries. This article highlights some of the activities that are currently underway in the working group on women-focused business incubation - and invites incubators to take part in an upcoming competition!

The Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship: deadline March 3, 2009 The Skoll Awards are designed for leaders who contribute value to a peer network committed to continuous learning. By telling their stories, they join in the foundation’s ongoing celebration of the power of social entrepreneurs. The Skoll Awards provide later-stage funding, which is generally structured as a $1 million award paid out over three years.

Calling entrepreneurs for sustainable development: 2009 SEED Awards Do you have an entrepreneurial and innovative idea that is locally-driven and has great potential to contribute to sustainable development in developing countries? In January 2009, the SEED Initiative will be launching its call for proposals for the 2009 SEED Awards for entrepreneurship in sustainable development.

International Good Practice for Establishment of Sustainable IT Parks infoDev, in cooperation with the Global ICT Department (GICT) of the World Bank Group, has commissioned a global best practice study on IT Parks which draws on the experience of several countries and leverages infoDev’s global network of business incubators, which in many instances are housed within IT Parks. The study provides a synthesis of best practices and lessons learned (both from success and failure) and supports governments in developing and transition economies in designing and promoting such projects.

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A Women's Sewing and Dyeing Enterprise at NCNW in Senegal

Catering business incubated at INEFOP in Angola

Presentations

Access to technology for enhanced industrial development, case Kenya, KIRDI Board.pdf 11/26/2007

Development of ICT Incubator in Ethiopia, Tessema Geda.pdf 11/26/2007

Digital Vision Fellowship Program, Erik Osiakwan.pdf 11/26/2007

Government's rols in supporting I&E in South Africa, SEDA, Charles Wyeth.pdf 11/26/2007

Govnt policy to support micro and SMEs, case Senegal, Cheikh Saadbouh Seck.pdf 11/26/2007

Insitutional support to Entrepreneurship and job creation, case Angola,Arcelinda Chingala.pdf 11/26/2007

Role of Government and Academia in BI, case Uganda, Banadda Noble.pdf 11/26/2007

Role of incubation in SME development, case Uganda, Charles Kwesiga.pdf 11/26/2007

Role of Universities in I&E, case Botswana, I.N. Mazonde.pdf 11/26/2007

South Afriican Business and Technology Incubation Association.pdf 11/26/2007

Strengthening regional linkages, experiences from Kenya, Abdel Kinoti.pdf 11/26/2007

Technology and Business Incubation Facility of Rwanda, Rajeev Aggarwal.pdf 11/26/2007

Tools to support networking and incubation, David Cromar.pdf 11/26/2007

Universities as Knowledge Centers, Uni Eduardo Mondlane Engineering Dept, Maputo, Carlos Lucas.pdf 11/26/2007

University of Pretoria, Inspiring Innovation, Alex Antonites.pdf 11/26/2007

Women and ICT focused incubation, case NCNW, Mbarou Gassama Mbaye.pdf 11/26/2007

Women empowerment, case Tanzania Development Gateway catalogues, Margareth Nzuki.pdf 11/26/2007

Youth entrepreneurship, Oguaa Business Incubatior experience, Ken Donkoh.pdf 11/26/2007

Reports

Africa network overview (2008)

iDISC overview & network statistics (2008)

Regional Workshop: Africa

18 July, 2007
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The following table provides a statistical overview of data for this region, collected from the iDisc member directory. Note that zero values are excluded throughout.

Type

	Incubators
Academic	1
Government	8
NGO	9
Private sector	5

Financial Model

	Incubators
For-profit	6
Not-for-profit	19

Targets

	Incubators
Rural poor	8
Urban poor	13
Women	17
Youth	18

Sectors

	Incubators
Agriculture	5
Clean Technology	0
Information and Communication Technologies	18
International	1
Manufacturing	10
Mixed Use	9
None	0
Textile	1

Services

	Incubators
Facilities	24
Finance	24
Incubation and Business Development	21
International Business Services	11
Networks and Synergy	20
Technology Transfer	12

Objectives

	Incubators
Affect policymaking	12
Commercialize research	9
Create companies that export revenues	10
Create jobs	19
Develop profitable enterprises	20
Provide income generating opportunities for disadvantaged populations	15
Raise the awareness of potential entrepreneurs	17

Number of Clients

# Reporting	23
Min	3
Mean	19
Max	50
Total	447

	Incubators
1-5	2
6-10	4
11-15	5
16-20	4
21+	8

Employees in Client Firms

# Reporting	23
Min	3
Mean	69
Max	199
Total	1,589

	Incubators
1-15	5
16-30	2
31-45	3
46-60	1
61+	12

Number of Graduates

# Reporting	15
Min	3
Mean	16
Max	78
Total	244

	Incubators
1-3	1
4-6	5
7-10	4
10-13	0
14+	5

Employees in Graduated Firms (Jobs Created)

# Reporting	15
Min	12
Mean	62
Max	200
Total	941

	Incubators
1-15	2
16-30	5
31-45	3
46-60	0
61+	5

Years in Operation

# Reporting	25
Min	2
Mean	6
Max	18
Total	153

	Incubators
0-3	5
4-6	9
7-9	8
10+	3

Space (sq.m)

# Reporting	20
Min	80
Mean	2,312
Max	10,000
Total	46,254

	Incubators
1-1,000	9
1,001-10,000	11
10,001+	0

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Regional Networks

Africa Asia/Pacific Eastern Europe/Central Asia Latin America/Caribbean Middle East/North Africa

Network Members

177 organizations listed in 77 countries worldwide.

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Steve Giddings

Last updated 30 Jun 2009

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