BIC Africa participated and exhibited in the AfriLabs Annual Gathering 2023 in Kigali, Rwanda held from the 11th to the 13th of October 2023, themed “Accelerating Africa’s Digital Economy; by the Strength of our Community.”
BIC Africa, along with its sister projects Enrich in Africa (EiA) and AEDIB|NET, had a booth where they interacted with the participants and explored potential collaborations across borders to build and bridge innovation ecosystems. This is in line with BIC Africa’s mission to support business incubators (BIs) in stimulating entrepreneurship and creating and consolidating new innovative start-ups in Africa, with a specific focus on youth and women. BIC Africa aims to strengthen entrepreneurship and foster decent job creation and sustainable livelihoods.
The AfriLabs Annual Gathering enabled BIC Africa to participate in the global knowledge and innovation marketplace and reconnect with the selected BIs from the BIC Africa country projects, some of whom are members of the AfriLabs network. This facilitated networking and partnership with local initiatives and companies.
The AfriLabs Annual Gathering is AfriLabs’ flagship event that convenes all the African technology and innovation ecosystem stakeholders. It provides an avenue to build viable African institutions through collaboration, stakeholder engagement, policy advocacy and government engagement to shape global, continental, and regional economic growth.