L’Afrique à l’épreuve de la Covid-19
Par Abdelhamid Benhmade
En quatre semaines, la situation est devenue extrêmement alarmante sur le continent africain. « Les populations africaines vivent l’un des pires épisodes pandémiques...
Expedited COVID-19 R&D: Indigenous Knowledge and ABS Imperative
With the world on edge as the COVID-19 crisis progresses, the scientific community has sprung into gear in search of an effective treatment. Research and Development (R&D) is progressing at unprecedented speeds. Amidst this rapid development, traditional knowledge plays a significant role in scientific endeavours. Through traditional knowledge, medical researchers can gain guidance and inspiration and bypass prolonged and expensive scatter-gun approaches to R&D.
L’accès au savoir en Afrique : le rôle du droit d’auteur
Ce livre, publié en 2011, permet de mieux saisir les enjeux juridiques et pratiques que posent les droits d’auteur pour l’accès au matériel didactique en Afrique et cerne les leçons apprises, les politiques et les pratiques susceptibles d’améliorer cet accès.
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.
Opportunities for Women in Transformative Innovation and 4IR in Africa
By Pamela Mreji
Since the beginning of time, women and men inventors and entrepreneurs have transformed our world through the power of their imagination and...
Managing Benefits from Traditional Knowledge (TK)
Published by Open AIRPublication Date: 2014Download: Briefing Note: Managing Benefits from Traditional Knowledge (TK) (403kb)
This 2014 Briefing Note highlights the findings from Open AIR research...
Upcoming research into informal entrepreneurs
Our Open AIR researcher Dr. Erika Kraemer-Mbula is continuing her exciting research in South Africa about informal sector entrepreneurs.
Informal entrepreneurship is receiving increasing scholarly and political attention in Africa. The continent’s booming youth population calls for an unprecedented need to create income and livelihood opportunities. Besides the traditional focus on formalisation, there is a growing interest in understanding the creative processes and innovations occurring in informal enterprises. However, evidence remains scarce, and research on informal enterprises still represents a relatively new and unexplored frontier.
How DIY Biology can Improve Access to Digital Agricultural Technologies
By Vipal Jain
Digital agricultural research is transforming the way crops are developed. New tools can speed up the ability to produce crops with higher...
Better metrics, better policies for knowledge and innovation in Africa
By Nagla Rizk
The Access to Knowledge for Development Center (A2K4D) leads the research on metrics, laws and policies within the Open African Innovation Research network...
Community Biology Lab’s Response to COVID-19 in Africa: The Case of...
In order to successfully combat the Covid-19 pandemic, research must be accelerated in a collaborative and coordinated manner, by sharing knowledge and data in resource-constrained areas.













