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.

Open AIR Expansion into Morocco

By Sara Yassine Over the past six months, the Research Laboratory Entrepreneurship and Management of Organizations (LABO-EMO) and Open AIR have been looking at ways...

Determinants of Innovation in Ethiopian Informal-Sector Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs)

Authored by: Wondwossen Belete Abstract: This Working Paper examines the main factors affecting the process of learning and innovation in informal-sector micro and small enterprises...

Vulnerabilities Exposed: COVID-19 and Informal Livelihoods in Egypt

By Nagla Rizk This article was originally published by Medium “I wish they let us move and to end the curfew, so we go to work....

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.

Drawn Out Battle Over Genetic Resources Dampens Africa’s Hopes

The global South is full of significant, diverse biological and genetic resources. It’s also home to most of the world’s indigenous communities. This is why developing countries are sensitive about protecting their genetic resources and traditional knowledge.

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,...

Open AIR initie un débat intra-africain sur l’informel à l’ère de...

Par Abdelhamid Benhmade En collaboration avec le Centre de recherche en droit, technologie et société (CDTS), DST/NRF/ Newton Fund Trilateral Research Chair in Transformative Innovation, et,...

DIY Biology in Africa: Opportunities and Challenges for Open Science

Authored by: Vipal Jain and Jeremy de Beer Do-It-Yourself (DIY) Biology, also known as biohacking, puts innovation into the hands of the citizens and provides...

Reconciling Intellectual Property Rights and African Development: The Right to Development...

By Uchenna Felicia Ugwu In September 2017, the Thabo Mbeki Foundation and the Centre for Human Rights (CHR), Faculty of Law University of Pretoria gathered together...