Firm-Level Innovation in Africa: Overcoming Limits and Constraints
Edited by: Oluseye Jegede: The literature on innovation in Africa is rapidly expanding, and a recurring thread in the emergent literature is the pervasiveness of systemic weaknesses that inhibit the innovation process. Despite these, firms are able to innovate in Africa.
À la découverte de la « Darky » : une imprimante 3D fabriquée au...
Par Thomas Hervé Mboa Nkoudou
La difficulté d’accès à l’équipement est souvent pointée comme l’un des principaux problèmes dont souffrent les makerspaces en Afrique. Et...
Innovation by “makers” in South Africa’s Gauteng Province
The “Makers” who come together to tinker and hack in the maker collectives of South Africa’s Gauteng Province display a wide range of innovation practices, our research for Open AIR has found.
Our study, Collaboration and Appropriation in Gauteng Makerspaces, investigated the activities of eight Gauteng maker collectives. The findings have now been published in Open AIR Working Paper 6, entitled The Maker Movement in Gauteng Province, South Africa.
3D Printing: Enabler of Social Entrepreneurship in Africa? The Roles of...
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...
Secteur informel Sénégalais : après la crise, la survie
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...
Challenging the Meaning of Innovation: Lessons from Refugee-Founded Organizations in Kampala
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.
Beyond the Poster Boy of the Maker Movement
Some people tour Europe’s finest vineyards others tour Australia’s sweetest surf spots—I tour South Africa’s pioneer makerspaces; part of the growing global maker movement. The movement is a culmination of people becoming “makers” (someone who uses their personal abilities to create anything from mechanical or electrical to visual or musical) and spaces becoming makerspaces (an interdisciplinary area stimulating people to create by providing resources and idea sharing).
Africa’s Maker Movement: An Overview of Ongoing Research
Makerspaces are places where people gather to build projects, learn new technologies, and develop entrepreneurial opportunities. Open AIR is conducting research on makerspaces across the African continent.
Making at AFRICAOSH Summit 2018
By Outlwile Maselwanyane
The first gathering for Africa Open Science & Hardware (AfricaOSH) was hosted by Kumasi Hive innovation hub, Kumasi, Ghana, on April 13-15...
Empowering Rural Craft Women through Social Entrepreneurship and Open, Inclusive 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...