NEWS

Individuals, teams or corporations that are selected will undergo a 3 month incubation programme at BITRI, and receive valuable innovation training by RIIS, in order to create their own sustainable business. The digital platform created for this project will act

The long awaited BOOST UP has been launched, it is a 3-part series of startup events, supported by SAIS 2, the SAIS 2 National Focal Points and the SAIS 2 Connected Hubs network in the five SADC countries of Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia. The BOOST UP series is geared to take the SADC region by storm with a total of over 20 events targeting over 700 aspiring entrepreneurs and startups taking place in 5 countries as from June to August 2019.

Five projects recently took part in a two day Inclusive Innovation training workshop in Lusaka, Zambia as part of capacity building for grantees supported through the SAIS 2 Innovation Fund Call for Proposals 2018/1.The projects are being implemented in seven countries across the SADC region and involve over 20 partners and were represented by coordinators and beneficiaries who traveled to Lusaka for the onsite training.

The Developing Additive Manufacturing Ecosystem project which will support manufacturing of innovative medical products, Additive Manufacturing (AM) of patient-specific implants and cutting/positioning guides through state of the art technology platforms recently kicked off with an official launch in Gaborone, Botswana.

Nine of South Africa and Zimbabwe’s top early-stage biotech entrepreneurs were selected to participating in an intense six-month development training programme at the Cape Innovation & Technology’s Woodstock Bandwidth Barn in Cape Town through the CiTi Piloting a Biotech Incubator project.

The Annual Southern Africa Innovation Forum (ASAIF) 2019 will be held in conjunction with Botswana Innovation Day on 19 September 2019 at the Botswana Innovation Hubs Science and Technology Park in Gaborone Botswana.

Two female Namibian entrepreneurs have been selected to exhibit their products and participate at the 3rd Zambia Entrepreneurship Summit (ZES 2019 ) in Lusaka, Zambia. The ZES, will be held in collaboration with the WECREATE Zambia Centre, the American Chamber of Commerce, Atlas Mara, and Hivos Southern Africa. Under the theme “Entrepreneurship and Innovation: The Future Now, Leaving No One Behind” the summit aims to connect entrepreneurs with investors, lenders entrepreneurship resources, empowerment networks and encourage business expansion.

The Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology (COSTECH) was among the institutions that participated in the Annual National Science, Technology and Innovation Competition (MAKISATU) at Nyerere Square in Dodoma from 5th – 7th March 2019. The event saw young innovators exhibit their project and receive awards for outstanding achievements.

NTBC has linked up with the Technology Innovation Agency (TIA) from South Africa and together are implementing the bilateral Research & Development scale-up fund, to provide funding to joint research projects between researchers from Zambia and South Africa.

SAIS 2 national Focal Point, Botswana Innovation Hub (BIH) recently held a stakeholder workshop in partnership with the Southern Africa Network for Biosciences, (NEPAD SANBio) in Gaborone.

The ntaka Hyperlocal Soil Advisory Services Project aims to improve access to soils advisory services through the establishment of a hyperlocal (mobile) soil spectroscopy laboratory to provide soils advisory services to over 10,500 farmers covering an area of 24,000 ha. The project is supported by the SAIS 2 Innovation Fund under the Window 3: Scaling Enterprises thematic area.

The Innovation Hub in Pretoria was a hive of excitement as 18 participants representing 16 of the 19 member organisations from 6 countries of the Connected Hubs met to take part in the much anticipated Peer-Learning Session.