From 2021 to 2024, we spent three years supporting European and African Digital Innovation Hubs (DIHs) through capacity building and networking. We were part of AfriConEU – a consortium of 11 organizations including four from SSA and seven from across Europe, working in different sectors – tech, academia, social enterprises, not-for-profit and policy . As ATBN, a social enterprise working towards a digital inclusion and transformation in Africa, here are our 3 main takeaways:
- DIHs play a unique and central role in catalysing African innovation ecosystems
Through research we carried out as part of the AfriConEU project, we found that DIHs play a central role as conveners, skills enablers, infrastructure and business support providers, financing connectors and policy advocates within African innovation ecosystems. The breadth and cross-cutting nature of the roles that African DIHs play is unique to the region. In more established ecosystems, in Europe for example, roles such as establishing infrastructure, digital skills training and policy advocacy often fall to specialised institutions or governments.
“Innovation hubs are basically at the core of the innovation ecosystem. They are conveners, they work with governments, they work with development partners, they work with private companies, they serve entrepreneurs directly and work with policymakers.” Hub leader in Tanzania
Today when more actors in the sustainable development sector are recognising the importance of working across sectors in order to effect systemic change, African DIHs have a lot to teach the world. As ecosystem builders in low resource environments who are in many cases charged with providing and advocating for the necessary infrastructure (skills, connectivity, policy, funding) needed for local digital innovators to thrive, African DIHs offer valuable lessons on how to develop and sustain relationships across academia, industry, policy and finance towards a common goal.
We therefore encourage further research into the operations of African DIHs and how their model can benefit other DIHs and innovation ecosystem builders in other regions.
- Despite their crucial role, African DIHs remain under-resourced.
Many of the African DIH leaders we spoke with said that one of the biggest challenges they face is accessing sufficient resources to support their work and build sustainable organisations. Our findings revealed that often, when funding is directed towards DIHs, it is done in ways that do not sustainably promote local ecosystem growth. For example, funding directed towards DIHs is primarily focused on programme delivery and outputs with not enough being dedicated towards core costs and human resource investments needed for hubs to strengthen their organisational structures. Many of the African digital hub leaders we interviewed shared the sentiment that this is because funders often fail to recognise DIHs as key actors who are playing a crucial role in the development of the digital innovation ecosystem but rather view DIHs simply as service providers whose role is to deliver programmes.
“We’re missing catalytic capital. That is, capital which is not just looking for a return now or in the next 10 years, but says, ‘I want to develop the ecosystem… We need investors who are willing to experiment and who invest in experiments”, CEO Impact Investing, Ghana
In order to sustain and enable African DIHs to fulfil their potential as agents for inclusive digital transformation in the region, there is a need to develop funding models that are tailored to their unique needs and roles. We believe that Catalytic Capital (CC) – financing that “accepts disproportionate risk and/or concessionary return to generate positive impact and enable third-party investment that otherwise would not be possible.” (Tideline, 2019) – is necessary in order to make African digital innovation ecosystems more impactful, locally-driven and sustainable. Catalytic Capital which by its nature takes a long term view, is well suited to building the necessary foundations to attract further private and public sector investment into Africa digital sectors. Moreover, given their crucial role within these ecosystems, African DIHs should be a key focus for such catalytic capital investments. As the de facto innovation ecosystem builders in the cities and countries they operate, DIHs should enjoy funding that enables them to effectively carry out their role and not be limited to implementing short-term programs alone.
- An emerging EU-Africa innovation ecosystem is unlocking opportunities for both regions
A joint EU-Africa innovation ecosystem is developing rapidly thanks to EU-Horizon 2020 funded projects like AfriConEU, ENRICH in Africa, AEDIB|NET, DIGILOGIC_EU and HUBiquitous as well as thriving networks and communities such as London Africa Network in the UK and Starfrica in Germany. These efforts have built specialist expertise, connections and a strong foundation for AU-EU digital cooperation. Collectively, they are working towards the ambitious goal of a joint EU-Africa innovation ecosystem that is mutually beneficial and equitable including developing enabling policy recommendations. Given its transcontinental nature and historic power imbalances between the two regions, this emerging trans-continental innovation ecosystem faces a unique set of challenges. Our research highlighted trust issues which can lead to misunderstandings and reluctance to share resources, exacerbated by differing communication styles and business practices as some of the challenges. Information asymmetries, disparate policy and regulatory frameworks and inequalities in digital education and skills access can further hinder collaboration.
Encouragingly, our joint work with EU and African partners showcased that there are increasingly dedicated organisations and transcontinental leaders who are uniquely positioned to work with and through these challenges and are already generating tangible impact.
For example, based in Greece, Youth Maker Hub (YMK), aims to serve as a catalyst for social change by providing the necessary tools & knowledge and fostering collaborations between Europe and Africa. hapaSpace, a Digital Innovation Hub at Kumasi, Ghana, is currently active in 5 different innovation projects with EU partners, including on digital upskilling and gender digital equity. In Portugal, Porto Business School African Future Center is promoting cross-continental partnership with Africa through innovative partnerships, knowledge exchange and inclusive leadership.
Conclusion
As the tech and innovation ecosystems across SSA continue to develop, there is growing recognition of their potential for driving sustainable development in the region and creating new opportunities for trade and investment with Europe. Our work as part of the AfriConEU project brought to the fore the crucial role that African DIHs have to play in building sustainable and thriving local innovation ecosystems. It also revealed the challenges that many African DIHs still face and actively worked to connect and strengthen them through the establishment of the first trans-continental Networking Academy for African and EU DIHs. The AfriConEU was not alone in its efforts, an EU-Africa innovation ecosystem is emerging, led by ambitious and forward thinking individuals, organisations, networks and initiatives. As ATBN, we look forward to seeing how this EU-African innovation ecosystem develops and to continuing to be a part of driving inclusive digital transformation across both regions.
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