International development agency Hivos, together with the DOEN Foundation and The Indigo Trust, have just announced a new fund to support technology hubs in Africa with the specific aim of empowering more sustainable entrepreneurship.

The first year’s disbursement amounts to €373 000 (R5 437 000) and will be split amongst four African-based tech hubs that will use the money to fund themselves as well as seed fund various projects, and programme management costs.

Hivos currently supports several tech hubs on the continent including Hive Colab (Uganda), Bongo Hive (Zambia), RLabs (South Africa), iSpace (Ghana), Jozi Hub (Johannesburg, South Africa) and Hypercube Hub (Zimbabwe), but the organisation has not yet stated which, if any, of these hubs will be the recipients of grants.

“We find that tech hubs are a great place for young entrepreneurs, programmers and techies to come together and develop solutions for some of the pressing challenges in their communities,” said Hivos programme manager for expression and engagement, Tambudzai Madzimure. “We’ve seen this happen in Kenya, Nigeria and Zambia, among other places. This fund will hopefully nurture initiatives that are on the ground.”

[Source – Hivos, Image – Shutterstock]