African tech hubs at Hubs in Africa.
No matter what you call them – tech hub, innovation hub, business incubator – technology centers are connecting young entrepreneurs, programmers, designers, and investors. Few concepts in Africa drives more excitement, collaboration, and promise than the tech hub.

Mosaic of African tech hub logos
For years, tech experimentation was limited to universities and a select few ambitious souls. In a matter of 2-3 years, however, the innovation scene has greatly expanded thanks to careful planning (plus, an influx of broadband connections doesn’t hurt). Official labs not only encourage the dispersion of local content, but also attract business investment and. Plus, lab members can spread their knowledge to the rest of society once they become local e-skills or programming experts.
The main draw of the labs is their offer of working spaces: broadband-equipped facilities that allow techies to conduct their business as if they were in an office setting. A benefit of the hub is that members do not need a university degree; passion, ideas, and some skill are all that is required in terms of human capital.
Membership terms are along the lines of a typical office lease. Financing for the labs is generally a combination of membership dues, donations, and revenue from commercial projects that have been contracted out. In many cases, tax breaks on imports and operating costs help attract hubs to less-developed areas.
Although AfriLabs naturally maintains a useful list of African tech hubs, there exist a handful of innovation centers/platforms/incubators that are not part of the consortium. Kenya may currently boast the most tech hubs, but other areas are quickly following suit as benefits become clearer. Please support these endeavors as they work to improve the quality of African life.
(The list is loosely mirrored on Twitter at @oafrica/african-tech-hubs. Also, please add any hubs in the comments or via Twitter – they will be mentioned ASAP. BongoHive has created an excellent CrowdMap of Hubs in Africa as of 2012)
AfriLabs Members:
AfriLabs
Founded: March 2010networking organizationseeks to share best practices among labs, increase visibility, organize events, promote developmentsimplemented Apps4Africa contest, helped establish Hive Colab in UgandaLast site post: February 2011Facebook: 99 / Twitter: 251http://afrilabs.com/
ActivSpaces (Buea, Cameroon)
Founded: February 2010formerly Limbe Labs Venturesopen collaboration space, innovation hub, and start-up incubator for African techiesCoworking program allows members to bring a computer and workFellowship program attracts mentors and business coachesLast site post: April 2011Facebook: 74 / Twitter: 426http://activspaces.com/
bantalabs (Saint Louis, Senegal)
Founded: February 2010based in France and Senegalopen source web development, consulting and training firmbuild websites and tools based on Drupalorganize workshops and community events in Europe and West AfricaLast post: April 2011Twitter: 350http://bantalabs.com/
Hive Colab (Kampala, Uganda)
Founded: June 2010open, collaborative, community owned work environment for young tech entrepreneurs to focus on projects, access the internet, hold events and generally collaborateLast post: March 2011Facebook: 38 / Twitter: 206http://hivecolab.com/
iHub (Nairobi, Kenya)
Founded: March 2010open space for the technologists, investors, tech companies and hackers in the areatech community facility with a focus on young entrepreneurs, web and mobile phone programmers, designers and researcherspart open community workspace, part vector for investors and VCs, and part incubatorvery active space – check the site for detailsLast post: April 2011Facebook: 787 / Twitter: 5347http://www.ihub.co.ke/
NaiLab (Nairobi, Kenya)
Founded: February 2010ICT Business Incubation Laboratorymakes it easier for financiers such as venture capitalists, angel investors or profit / non-profit driven corporations to find innovatorsincubation service, co-working service, outreach serviceVideoLast post: January 2011Facebook: 622 / Twitter 187http://www.ilab.co.ke/
Other Tech Hubs:
Botswana Innovation Hub (Gaborone, Botswana)
Founded: 2006mission is to provide an attractive location for technology-driven and knowledge-intensive businesses to develop, and to compete in the global marketdevelopment programs, together with the support for R&D and the promotion of innovation and entrepreneurship, will make for an ideal place for business developmentLast post: April 2011http://www.bih.co.bw/
ice ethiopia (iceaddis) (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia)
Founded: January 2011aim is to establish a national network of collaboration and a home of Ethiopian made innovationscross-linking ICT innovation with entrepreneurial knowledge and skills development as well as with incubator facilities (collaborative workspace) for start-up companiesTwitter: 42http://ice-ethiopia.org/
icecairo (Cairo, Egypt)
Founded: late 2011aims at accelerating Egypt’s economic growth by promoting market-driven and environmentally viable innovationsexpansion of iceaddis in EthiopiaTwitter: 6 followers
Wennovation Hub (Ikeja, Nigeria)
Founded: November 2010provides pre-business formation training, a facility to encourage collaborative business idea formation, seed capitalLast post: April 2011Facebook: 27 / Twitter: 34http://www.wennovationhub.com/
Tech Hub Nigeria (Lagos, Nigeria)
Founded: May 2010 (no longer active as of 2012?)started online, then added offline facilityyouth-led Non-governmental intervention to grow the industry by harnessing common resources to create platform for untapped potentials in Nigerian youths to flourisha location for technologists, programmers (Mobile, Web, PC, Linux, etc.), technopreneurs, investors, and anyone interested in technologymodeled after Tech Hub Europe, iHub Kenya, and Silicon Cape
Akendewa (Abidjan, Ivory Coast)
Founded: 2009emulates the industry of Internet and mobile players departing the bottom of the pyramid (startup, lovers and enthusiasts, independent contractors)promote ICT, especially in Francophone AfricaLast post: April 2011Facebook: 2686 / Twitter: 312http://www.akendewa.org/
BongoHive (Lusaka, Zambia)
Founded: 2011can build anything on demand, from websites, databases, SMS services to appsFacebook: 4 / Twitter (@BongoHive): 255
EtriLabs (Cotonou, Benin)
Founded: mid-2011Provides the environment and infrastructure necessary for the emergence of disruptive technology in AfricaTwitter (@EtriLabs): 56Website
JokkoLabs (Dakar, Senegal)
Founded: October 2010identifies and supports innovative ideas and communities of the creative economyTwitter (@jokkolabs): 287Website
Tech Incubators:
The Innovation Hub (Pretoria, South Africa)
Founded: 2002Africa’s first internationally accredited Science Parkunique space for high-tech entrepreneurs, world-class businesses, academics, researchers and venture capitalists to meet, network and prosperhttp://www.theinnovationhub.com/
The Silicon Cape (Cape Town, South Africa)
Founded: October 2009private sector community movement originally founded by two South African high-tech entrepreneursopportunity in South Africa to create a “Silicon Valley of Africa”, and attract the brightest minds, best technical talent, and local and foreign investorsFacebook: 541 / Twitter: 2095http://www.siliconcape.com/
m:lab east africa (Kenya)
Founded: September 2010aims to foster innovation and entrepreneurship within the Kenyan community, with a focus on Web and mobile servicesprovides a full range of resources and initiatives to infuse innovators and researchers with the support they need to introduce innovative products and services that have an impact on the Kenyan context and abroadpartnered with iHub, eMobilis, and University of Kenya with infoDev & World Bank fundingTwitter: 258http://mlab.co.ke/
Umbono (Cape Town, South Africa)
Founded: March 2011operated by Google, the team-based program lasts for 6 monthstransforms vision into a business by securing funding, free collaborative work space in Cape Town, business strategy, mentors, and visibilityhttp://www.google.co.za/intl/en/umbono/
Tech Communities:
eMobilis (Nairobi, Kenya)
Founded: 2008focuses on training individuals on mobile software development, as well as network infrastructure managementLast post: February 2011Facebook: 395 / Twitter: 20http://www.emobilis.org/
Afrinnovator (Nairobi, Kenya)
Founded: 2008telling the stories of African startups, African innovation, African made technology, African tech entrepreneurship and entrepreneursactive online resourceFacebook: 467 / Twitter: 2200http://afrinnovator.com/
Appfrica Labs (Kampala, Uganda)
Founded: 2008founded as a technology incubator for youth in East Africaoperates as both an innovation incubator and as a boutique software companyworks with a surprising range of clients on diverse projects: translation, mobile apps, Facebook apps, software development, market research and reports, data analysis and visualization, infographics, graphic designTwitter: 4016http://appfricalabs.com/
mLab Southern Africa (South Africa)
Founded: 2011an incubator for mobile apps and content services in southern Africahosted by a consortium of incubators (including The Innovation Hub)Twitter: 321http://www.mlab.co.za/
iLab Liberia
Founded: 2011Promotes information sharing via technologyProvides an open environment for Liberian techies and organizations to learn info sharing tools, open source systems, and host tech meet-upsTwitter: 127http://www.ilabliberia.com/
KINU (Tanzania)
Founded: 2012An open space for Tanzania’s tech community to foster co-creation, innovation and capacity buildingTwitter: 52http://kinu.co.tz
The iHills Network (Rwanda)
Founded:A group of Rwandan tech Start-up companiesInspires tech entrepreneurshiphttp://www.theihills.com
G Space (Ghana)
an open community space where technology and entrepreurialism intersect to build innovative solutionshttp://gspace.addhen.org
The Lab’s (Togo)
innovation centerhttp://www.thelabs-tg.net (site not yet up?)
Flat6Labs (Egypt)
fosters and invests in Egyptian technology startups for a three month periodhttp://flat6labs.com
University Labs:
Makerere Univesity Software Incubation Lab at COCIS (Makerere, Uganda)
Established: December 2010one of the largest computing and ICT training, information science, research and consultancy colleges in Africahttp://www.cis.mak.ac.ug/

African Virtual Open Initiatives and Resources (AVOIR) (South Africa)
Established: 2004initially focused on software for educationdevelops expertise and best practices in FOSS development and deploymentuniversity and software developer partnershiphttp://www.idrc.ca/cp/ev-86445-201-1-DO_TOPIC.htmlhttp://www.chisimba.com
Planned Technology Cities:
Konza (Konza, Kenya)
part of the national Vision 2030 planexpected to eventually create about 80,000 jobsseeking investorshttp://dev.urban-graphics.co.uk/
Rhapta City (Dar es Salaam, Tanzania)
supported by COSTECH, SEACOM, investors via PPPground breaking is expected in mid-2011 unknownhttp://www.techmtaa.com/2011/04/19/tanzania-answers-to-konza-technology-city-with-raphta-city/
Foreign Efforts:
ICTWorks (San Francisco, United States)
resource for sharing and expanding knowledge on appropriate information and communication technologiesimplements sustainable processes in rural and underserved communities across the developing worldFacebook: 569 / Twitter: 2839http://www.ictworks.org/
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