Co-Creation Hub (CcHub) has announced a new co-funded initiative to support innovation within African universities, in partnership with the Make-IT in Africa project implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
Called the UNI:NNOVATORS Startups-in-Residence Programme, the new initiative will see CcHub support 30 student-led innovations in Nigeria, Namibia, and Kenya in an effort to strengthen and accelerate the participation of academic institutions in the emerging innovation ecosystem across Africa.
The selected startup teams will participate in a design sprint to improve on their research-based innovations and build prototypes focused on greentech and smart city solutions in specific sectors – agriculture, energy, circular economy, water and healthcare.
Eighteen of these student-led teams who scale through after a pitch demonstration will participate in a knowledge exchange with leading researchers in their fields and get the opportunity to travel to Germany for physical sessions to help to strengthen their prototypes. They will then receive funding and advisory services towards building and deploying their MVPs in the marketplace and in partnership with industry where applicable.
The programme will culminate in a two-day summit in Nairobi, Kenya where startups will pitch to an international audience of investors and stakeholders as we try to showcase the critical role that higher education institutions play in the broader innovation ecosystem on the continent.
“The expectation is that we can support the many research-led innovations that Masters students, PhD students and even undergraduate students are building in our universities to solve some of the most critical and deepest challenges we have on our continent,” CcHub said.
CcHub will work with six higher education institutions in the three chosen countries.
“In Nigeria, we will work with the University of Ibadan and the University of Lagos. In Namibia, we will work with the University of Namibia and Namibia University of Science and Technology. In Kenya, we will work with Riara University and the University of Nairobi,” it said.
