Informal Innovation

By Desmond Osaretin Oriakhogba My Engagement with the Hillcrest Aids Centre Trust in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa As part of my on-going project as a Queen...

Authored by: Nagham ElHoussamy and Dr. Nagla Rizk Abstract: This Working Paper sets out findings from research exploring the growing maker movement across North Africa, focusing...

Authored by: Tobias Schonwetter and Bram Van Weile Abstract: Recognising the potential of 3D printing technology for facilitating locally relevant innovation and social entrepreneurship in...

Par Aboubacry Kane Le secteur informel ignoré par le plan de relance économique La pandémie du Covid-19 continue toujours de sévir dans le monde. Après plusieurs...

This paper sets out findings from a national scan of maker collectives in South Africa. The scan gathered data on more than 20 maker communities across five South African provinces.

Authored by: Chidi Oguamanam Abstract: The Nigerian movie industry, known as Nollywood, has attracted an impressive degree of research interest since its debut in the 1990s,...

Funded by the Open AIR network, my case study is about skills development and innovation at Ghana’s Suame Magazine Industrial Cluster. The research I am conducting seeks to understand the processes and systems that contribute to how knowledge is or is not shared and how skills are acquired in one of West Africa’s largest informal sector industrial clusters, Suame Magazine. How skills are learned and what is communicated between those in the industrial cluster will help us to learn how innovations are shared and taught among these informal businesses.

Authored by: Yaw Adu-Gyamfi and Benson Adjei Abstract: The informal-sector industrial cluster of Suame Magazine in Kumasi constitutes a major avenue for training, innovation, and knowledge-sharing...

By Lilian Nantume* The education and dissemination of knowledge about Intellectual Property Rights for small women-owned businesses in Uganda is still in its infancy. Unfortunately,...

There is often a limited and constricted view of African innovation, especially when it comes to refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs). While there is the common perception that refugees on the continent are resilient, innovative, and resourceful, it is only in the sense that “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure”. Too often, refugees and IDPs are perceived as persons with only needs. The reality is that refugees and IDPs are just like everyone else and bring many skills, ideas, and innovations to the global marketplace, both the marketplace of ideas and of goods.