Hi, Quartz Africa readers!
The hub effect
It’s easy to take tech hubs across Africa for granted. You’re probably reading all the time about how their numbers are growing rapidly across Africa—more than 130 new hubs have opened in the last two years.
Many of the hubs seem to get financial and technical support from generous foundations and major tech and telco corporates among others. And more recently, tech giants Facebook and Google have both rolled out significant new Lagos centers with NG_Hub and Launchpad respectively, with promises of more to come in other cities.
But it’s important to note, the tech hub label includes a wide range of very different things. Firstly, many, perhaps most, are community centers but in, perhaps, the most important way possible. There’s immense value, if you’re an entrepreneur, to being around like-minded innovators and technology dreamers like yourself if you’re in an African city where trying to be the next Mark Zuckerberg isn’t the most obvious ambition.
Then there are those, like one imagines Google and Facebook’s, where it’s a bit more than just being a place for good wi-fi and regular electricity, if you can get in to their programs your startup would likely get some very important and world class technical support.
There’s also an end-to-end model, which provides the community, technical support and early equity investment. One such example is MEST, which is one of the longest running headquartered in Accra, but now has hubs in Lagos and Cape Town, with Nairobi expected by the end of the year.
But there’s still not enough, says Rebecca Enonchong, who chairs Afrilabs, a pan-African network of around 90 hubs across 30 countries. “When local corporates see Facebook and Google opening up they’ll follow and that’s good because we need more hubs, not fewer,” she said during last month’s Vivatech event. As Enonchong sees it, the community role of tech hubs enabling startups with access to training and networking with peers and industry stakeholders is almost more important than being a hub to raise investment.
Perhaps it’s so much that more hubs are needed but that more different types of hubs are needed especially as the market matures, there will be demand for specialized knowledge, suggests Aaron Fu, who runs MEST Africa. “I think there needs to be a more collaborative model between hubs,” said Fu. “There could be some that specialize in different sectors that we could direct our startups to collaborate with.” Examples could be a UX/design center or a fintech hub.
So we definitely need more hubs, maybe not just more of the same.
— Yinka Adegoke, Quartz Africa editor
Stories from this week
The small screen has arrived at one of Africa’s most prominent film festivals. Zanzibar International Film Festival says it will showcase TV and web series for the first time as part of the 21-year-old festival’s selection. Lynsey Chutel explains why this signals a pivotal moment for African television production.
Artificial intelligence will have a big role in Africa’s future. Estimates show there’s a $1.2 trillion opportunity with AI technology in Africa, which Google is betting on with the launch of its first AI center in Accra, Ghana. Meanwhile in Ethiopia, a team of researchers in Addis Ababa are investing in machine learning and developing a high-tech workforce.
How the international focus on South Africa’s white poverty skews Google image searches. With the substantial wealth gap between black and white, some South Africans were frustrated to find only images of white people came up when they googled “squatter camps in South Africa.” The search algorithms appeared to reflect recent media coverage by international news outlets.
Zimbabwe wants to transform into a leading innovation hub—with China’s help. Under its new leader Emmerson Mnangagwa, the southern Africa nation has pitched itself to global financiers and agencies as a growing investment destination. Tawanda Karombo writes on how Harare is now looking to China to help develop smart cities and boost its budding tech ecosystem.
Johannesburg and Cape Town’s internet access costs more than in New York and Zurich. The cost of living in South Africa’s big cities is among some of the most affordable in the world given their amenities. But research shows internet usage in cities like Johannesburg and Cape Town is a lot more expensive than in cities like New York and Zurich.
Morocco’s checkered Africa history scuppered its Africa World Cup bid. It’s been tough soccer week for Morocco, which lost its opening World Cup match in Russia a couple of days after learning it lost it bid to host the 2026 World Cup. Yomi Kazeem looks into how Morocco’s recent political clashes with key African governments and policies led to 11 African nations voting against Morocco’s “African” World Cup bid.
Chart of the Week
Cybercrime is proving very costly for Africa’s businesses. Across Africa, cybercrime threats are increasing with attacks and breaches growing in sophistication by the day. Abdi Latif Dahir reports on how weak security architecture, scarcity of skilled personnel and lack of awareness are costing billions of dollars to both public and private institutions.
Other Things We Liked
Where is the “African” in African studies? African studies programs should acknowledge Africans have always produced knowledge about their continent, writes Robtel Neajai Pailey for African Arguments. “African Studies remains a colonized space rife with misrepresentation, homogenization and essentialising about Africa.”
The corruption and political wrangling that gutted South Africa’s once-reputable tax agency. Following the end of apartheid, South Africa’s tax collection was lauded globally with revenue benchmarks surpassing that of even the United States. That is no more write Selam Gebrekidan and Norimitsu Onishi in the New York Times, after examining a national scandal that has undermined the dreams of millions of people.
The former soap factory that is now Angola’s leading innovation space. Fábrica de Sabão is a hub at a Luanda slum that has been refurbished into offices, workshops, and maker spaces to boost the creativity of young Angolans. Lindsay Samson details in Design Indaba how the new initiative is reviving the appeal for locally designed and produced items.
Keep an eye on
MEST Africa summit (18-20). The Pan-African tech conference will convene in Cape Town to discuss the latest in tech and startups space in Africa. Quartz will be there to hear founders making the case why their respective African city is the best place to start a business.
Mandela Washington fellowship for young African leaders (June 18-Aug. 2). The signature Obama exchange program will kickstart with 1,000 young African leaders undertaking academic coursework, leadership training, and networking opportunities across the US.
South Sudan’s leaders meet (June 20). President Salva Kiir and his rival and former deputy Riek Machar will meet for the first time in two years amid renewed allegations of profiting from the civil war.
World Refugee day (June 20). The global day for refugees will be marked at a time when migrant rescue boats are being turned away from European shores.
*This brief was produced while listening to Homowo by Basa Basa (Ghana)
Our best wishes for a productive and thought-filled week ahead. Please send any news, comments, suggestions, original African TV shows and African AI robots to africa@qz.com. You can follow us on Twitter at @qzafrica for updates throughout the day. This newsletter was compiled by Abdi Latif Dahir and edited by Yinka Adegoke.
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