UNDP Accelerator Labs, AfriLabs Partner to Advance African Innovation Policy

Emma Okonji

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Accelerator Labs and AfriLabs have partnered to promote innovation policy in Africa.

Both organisations recently held a hybrid and virtual event hosted by AfriLabs as part of their 2021 Annual Gathering to formally announce their partnership and path forward.

AfriLabs Executive Director, Anna Ekeledo, and Senior Advisor and UNDP Nigeria Accelerator Lab Focal Point, William Tsuma, attended the in-person event at the ImpactCove Hub in Abuja, while the Assistant Secretary-General and Director of UNDP’s Regional Bureau for Africa, Ahunna Eziakonwa, and the UNDP Accelerator Labs Team Leader, Gina Lucarelli, joined virtually.

The partnership is expected to focus on harnessing the knowledge of local innovators across the continent to close the gap towards the Sustainable Development Global Goals (SDGs).

According to the organisers, to date, Africa is only on track for Goal 14 (life below water), with a regression on Goals such as 16 (peace, justice and strong institutions), which is why we urgently need to mobilise the collective intelligence of more than one billion Africans to accelerate progress toward these Goals.

“With our youth population projected to be over 500 million over the next five years, the importance of job creation cannot be understated, and innovation hubs act as a platform that build systems and businesses that create these jobs. We see this partnership as a powerful collaboration that can multiply the effect of our goals and we look forward to recording measurable impact tailored to revolutionize the innovation ecosystem in Africa,” Ekeledo said.

Assistant Secretary-General and Director of UNDP’s Regional Bureau for Africa, Ahunna Eziakonwa, said: “Together, AfriLabs and the 35 UNDP Accelerator Labs in Africa will draw lessons from existing policies and develop a framework which will be shared as input for African leaders. This can shape inclusive innovation policies that will better address the complexity of current development challenges.”

UNDP Accelerator Labs Team Leader, Gina Lucarelli, said: “Bottom-up innovation plays a critical role if we want to accelerate progress towards the goals. We know there is power in the homegrown innovation happening across the continent and this partnership will help us tap into this potential. I am particularly excited about the upcoming national innovation policy dialogues we are co-organizing to surface what kind of innovation policies can unleash and enable all that power.”