In February of this year, the African Union and the European Union launched their joint AU-EU Innovation Agenda to strengthen collaboration in scientific and technological research and innovation. Africa’s R&I sector is growing fast, with start-ups and technology hubs growing in numbers across the continent. A strong driver of economic development, innovation has tremendous transformative potential.
But what will it take to support and grow the innovation movement to make the most of its untapped potential? What are the challenges? And how can Europe and Africa work together in this area? In the newest episode of the EAIE Podcast, we sat down with Ajibola Odukoya to ask him these and other questions. Ajibola is the Chief Operations Officer of Afrilabs, Africa’s largest community of technology hubs, innovators, and entrepreneurs. Through his expertise, we take a tour of Africa’s innovation ecosystem.
About Ajibola Odukoya
A graduate of Cranfield School of Management and Manchester Metropolitan University in the UK, Ajibola Odukoya is today Chief Operating Officer of AfriLabs. In addition to founding several business enterprises, he has served as a Global Jury member for the United Nations Capital Development Fund’s (UNCDF) Agritech Challenge 2021 and held several leadership roles in national-level agencies and initiatives in Nigeria focused on e-government and e-authentication. A past winner of the UK National Apprentice Challenge, he is a member of the ID4Africa movement and a thought leader in National Identification and Authentication in Africa.
For further exploration
For further insights into the topics touched on in this episode, the following resources may be of interest:
→ AfriLabs
→ AfriLabs Ecosystem Report 1: Building a Conducive Setting for Innovators to Thrive (2019)
→ AfriLabs Ecosystem Report 2: Bolstering Innovators in Africa (2021)
→ EAIE Podcast: Africa’s internationalisation agendas