Development Agency Infodev, Nokia and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Finland have formed a partnership in a €11.9 million program to develop SMEs across Africa, Asia and Europe.
The Infodev program known as ‘Creating Sustainable Businesses in the Knowledge Economy’ is the name for this public/private partnership specifically aimed at emerging businesses in the ICT and agribusiness markets.
As part of the program, bids were held in May 2010 for countries to host the establishment of Regional Mobile Laboratories.
In September 2010, organizations in two African countries namely South Africa and Kenya were chosen to host new mobile labs. Grants of between US$200 000 and US$300 000 are to be provided for their establishment.
The Mobile Laboratories are part of phase 1 in the program and act as technical centres for mobile developer training, business mentoring, consumer behavior research as well as facilitating access to markets. The labs will also provide top range equipments and connect entrepreneurs with potential investors and industry experts.
In Kenya, the iHub consortium was chosen to host labs in East Africa. This includes the World Wide Web Foundation, iHub in Nairobi, eMobilis and The University of Nairobi School of Computing and Informatics.
The Meraka consortium which includes the CSIR Meraka Institute, Innovation Hub, Innovation Lab and Ungana-Afrika will host labs for Southern Africa.
The labs are expected to be operational by 2011 and encourage entrepreneurship and innovation in the emerging ICT sector.
Photo by Sydney Alvares
Africa Report Team
October 13, 2010
Hi Elkington
Some of our articles offer you useful entrepreneurial skills, while others report on SME development in Africa. An article like this is meant to keep you up-to-date with business news. While this specific programme may not be able to benefit you directly, it is always good to be informed. ICT is a business sector. Development in this sector will create more job opportunities and open Africa to further business possibilities. Entrepreneurs within this field in particular may benefit from investment in the sector.
All the best.
victor nwamadi
October 15, 2010
i am a nigerian resident in london and a holder of masters degree in management. i want to open up abusiness outlet in nigeria but i dont have the initial capital to do it, iwould like to know if africa report could assist me with the finance, or is their any bank responsible for assisting people who want to establish a company in africa?.
thanks,
victor nwamadi.
Africa Report Team
October 18, 2010
Hi Victor
As an NGO TV series Africa Report does not fund entrepreneurs directly. Instead, this website is a platform to help entrepreneurs connect with potential investors/development agencies to help start or grow their businesses. If you would like to make a finance request, please visit our online Marketplace to list your business. Click “Create Advert”, login and fill in the required information. You can also see the Directory for organisations that are active in business development in Africa. All the best.