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Maker Movement

Open AIR has been researching the innovation practices of African maker communities since 2016. We see the maker movement as a key engine for open collaborative innovation and enterprise development on the continent, and our exploration of the maker movement intersects with our work in the High Technology Hubs research theme. Open AIR’s first research engagements with African makers took place in 2016-17, when we documented The Maker Movement in Gauteng Province, South Africa and conducted A Scan of South Africa’s Maker Movement.

Our work in this area includes elements of knowledge co-production action research, through which we engage with maker communities not as mere research subjects, but also as collaborators who help guide the direction and content of the research findings. Emblematic of this action-research approach was Open AIR’s collaboration with the South African Maker Collective in convening the South African Maker Movement Workshop in Pretoria in March 2017. Our explorations of the continent’s maker communities then moved beyond South Africa to include studies of The Maker Movement Across North Africa and fabrication laboratories (fablabs) in Burkina Faso, Cameroon and Senegal.

Journal articles published by Open AIR researchers in this research area include Armstrong and Kraemer-Mbula’s 2022 article, Value Creation and Socioeconomic Inclusion in South African Maker Communities, and the 2018 article by Armstrong, de Beer, Kraemer-Mbula and Ellis entitled Institutionalisation and Informal Innovation in South African Maker Communities. From 2022 to 2025, Open AIR, through its University of Cape Town hub, was part of the consortium that delivered the EU Horizon 2020-funded African European Maker Innovation Ecosystem (mAkE) Project. The mAkE Project supported the work of makerspaces in several African and European countries, developed a Map of Machinery, and published an Open Catalogue of Business Models (OCBM), a set of Recommendations for Policy Makers, and a Venture Building Handbook.

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A Scan of South Africa’s Maker Movement

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.

Innovation, Makerspaces, and the Future: A Lesson from the University of...

Creativity is a key ingredient in innovation, and the University of Pretoria’s (UP) makerspace screams it from the moment one arrives; the walls are brightly painted orange and green, there are several large tables surrounded by equally bright chairs, and along the back and side walls lay computers, makerbot 3D printers, and, of course, a coffee machine. Currently, UP is the only South African university with a ‘formal’ makerspace, although many, including the University of Cape Town and Rhodes University, are working to establish their own official makerspaces.

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...

OMMIC: A Personal Perspective

By Uche Ajuonuma Last fall, I attended the Ontario Makers and Mentors Innovation Conference (OMMIC) at uOttawa. The event was held at the new STEM...

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...

Les Femmes entrepreneures au Senegal : entre montee en puissance et...

Par Aboubacry Kane Aujourd’hui, les femmes entrepreneures sont de plus en plus présentes sur la scène économique au Sénégal. Bien qu’elles s’engagent dans des activités entrepreneuriales, souvent de petite taille,...

Collaboration Nord-Sud et présentation du processus de l’innovation au système de...

par Ahou Rachel KOUMI Ce blogpost est la première partie d’une série de deux blogs sur les Journées de l’Innovation en Contexte Académique réalisées du 19...

Open AIR North Africa Distinguished Speaker Series: Ibrahim Al-Safadi on Makerspaces...

On 10 December 2016, as part of the RiseUp Summit in Cairo, Open AIR’s North Africa hub hosted their first Distinguished Speaker event with Ibrahim Al-Safadi, the CEO of Luminous Education. The Access to Knowledge for Development Center (A2K4D) invited Al-Safadi to speak about the role of “makerspaces” to tackle unemployment and to share his experiences in how to create a makerspace that ensures that the individuals involved end up with jobs.

Building Startup Resilience in Ghana Through Policy Support

By Yaw Adu-Gyamfi Startups in Ghana struggle with access to technical support services, sustainable market linkages and funding to keep them afloat in the initial...

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.

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