Digital Innovation Hubs

creating a vibrant DIH landscape in Africa

What is a Digital Innovation Hub?

In a nutshell, a Digital Innovation Hub is a coordinated group of organisations with complementary expertise and a public-benefit objective, offering a set of services and activities to companies to support their digital transformation and innovation through a one-stop shop.

A Digital Innovation Hub needs to provide services and activities along four areas:

Test before invest

should allow companies to try out a digital technology and validate its benefits and feasability before investing in it

Skills & Development

should provide companies and their employees with the required skills to understand, evaluate, implement and operate the deployed digital technologies

ecosystem building

should foster the cooperation between existing and the emergence of new actors within the local innovation ecosystem

access to finance

a Digital Innovation Hub should advise and broker financing options to companies that want to deploy a digital technologies in their operation

Meet AEDIB|NET 12 African Digital Innovation Hubs

Northern Africa

Cleantech216

Tunisia

Cleantech216 is a hybrid hub for the development, prototyping, and incubation of clean technologies to improve climate resilience. It is focusing on innovating in cleantech solutions for the private sector.

Members of the consortium:
Future Islands
Ipalm
Talent lab

DigiTrade Innovation Hub

Egypt

eBusiness Leaders is an e-commerce enabler offering a wide range and effective services to SMEs. It is a one-stop shop offering digital trade technology solutions' awareness/knowledge to SMEs.

Members of the consortium:
Leadership
Bibliotica
LilyShop

The Smart Cities Startups Hub (SCSH)

Egypt

SCSH is planning to implement a wide range of activities to improve networks, knowledge, skills and access to finance for new entrepreneurs and MSMEs in the Smart Cities areas.

Members of the consortium:
ICEALEX
The Smart Future Cities Laboratory (SFCL)
Impact Circles

Eastern Africa

CleanTech Hub Nairobi

Kenya

CleanTech Hub Nairobi is a digital and physical resource centre that supports CleanTech SMEs to digitise their operations and offering.

Members of the consortium:
Circular Innovation Hub
Growth Africa Foundation
Nairobi Circle Innovations Consulting Limited

DOORS- Digital Innovation for SMEs

Rwanda

The aim of DOORS is to increase technology adoption and digitalization efforts of Rwandan SMEs. The DIH will help in capability and capacity building towards digitization and develop an entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Members of the consortium:
Coventry University Africa Hub
250Startups Incubator

jkian

Kenya

JKIAN is a digital solutions hub to provide digital climate smart agriculture and trade solutions to small and medium scale farmers.

Members of the consortium:
Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology
Impact Africa Network

Smart City Lab

Rwanda

The Smart City Lab provides a bridge between the private and public sector by connecting government priorities with ideas and solutions from innovators and businesses.

Members of the consortium:
Rwandan Ministry of ICT and Innovation
Rwanda Information Society Authority
Rwanda ICT Chamber

Smart Kilimo Project

Tanzania

Smart Kilimo aims to democratise digital climate smart agriculture technologies to empower young Tanzanian entrepreneurs to grow the agriculture sector.

Members of the consortium:
Westerwelle Foundation Tanzania
Agriedo Hub
Smartcore Enterprise Limited

Central Africa

237 DT Innovation Lab

Cameroon

237 DT Innovation Lab is a group of organizations bringing together their expertise to promote and support innovative projects, start-ups and SMEs operating or wishing to operate in the field of digital trade across Cameroon.

Members of the consortium:
Orange Digital Center Cameroon
ActivSpaces
Cameroon Angels Network
Université Catholique d'Afrique Centrale

Western Africa

Geospatial Innovation Agri Hub (GIA Hub)

Senegal

GIA Hub aims to help fishermen and farmers improve their productivity to ultimately achieve food security, by facilitating access to meaningful digital solutions using geospatial data.

Members of the consortium:
CNCR
Yessal AgriHub
Université Cheikh Anta DIOP of Dakar

GreenInvest ImpactHub

Côte d'Ivoire

GreenInvest - ImpactHub is a one-stop-shop of digital innovation for the transition of cities towards smart city management.

Members of the consortium:
Green Invest Africa
Impact Hub Abidjan
Green Invest-Impact Hub

Southern Africa

Wits Enterprise / Tshimologong Digital Innovation Precinct

South Africa

Wits Enterprise / Tshimologong Digital Innovation Precinct supports understanding the business case, and developing a strong, sustainable business around products built on sound research. The DIH will support university inventions that support Smart city priorities.

Members of the consortium:
Wits Commercial Enterprise
Tshimologong Digital Innovation Precinct