Lesego Makgatho
IF YOU are in the information and communication technology (ICT) industry and are looking for a way to give your innovation firm a boost you should get in touch with the African Innovation Academy if you are .
Established earlier this year for African small businesses and start-ups, the innovation incubator and accelerator supports start-ups, small businesses, and innovators in Africa, and helps them to implement disruptive ideas through innovation.
Palesa Nangu, 29, the founder and chief executive of African Innovation Academy, says they enrol start-ups into their innovation and entrepreneurship programmes, and have them trained by world-class experts.
And depending on the nature of their business, they connect them to relevant innovation ecosystems within and around the world, help them build a global brand, and also provide support through their growth.
They support African entrepreneurs and innovators and promote African innovations through training online and offline programmes and workshops, innovation management, international opportunities, research and development through open innovation, investment opportunities and more.
“Africa innovation is a researcher and funder for innovation. We help young tech innovators build themselves within the information and technology space. As an entity we promote development and advancement of African businesses.
“Our mission is to organise the world’s information and make it accessible and useful to disadvantaged communities. This will be done through the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) innovation platform. This platform will consist of a data platform, an annual event and a print publication,” Nangu says.
She says the data platform will aggregate all innovations data from the BRICS nations and provide a central location from where it can be accessed for knowledge and analysis.
“This platform will exist as a content platform that will provide regular information about innovation across BRICS countries. The annual event will look to bring innovators across the BRICS nations to share insights about development in the innovation space in their own regions,” Nangu says.
The print publication, currently underway, will seek to put a spotlight on innovators, and their projects. It will also offer inspirational content about how BRICS is approaching innovation.
The entity has an organisational and structural structure of seven individuals: The chairperson, the chief executive, a content director, a communications director, a social and economics development director, an administrator and an intern for social development.
“We see no boundaries in technology innovation as it spreads globally and SME (small and medium enterprises) development will be given significant consideration. We help start-ups to implement disruptive ideas through innovation,” she says.
For more information on the incubator: https://africaninnovation.academy or you can email [email protected].