Faraja
Nyalandu - Executive Director of Shule Direct speaking on
entrepreneurship and its' challenges in Tanzania and promoting self
employment during the Innovation week organised by Human Development
innovation Fund (HDIF) in Dar es Salaam earlier this week. From left
Benedict Tesha - Founder of Jamaa Technology, Nisha Ligon - CEO of
Ubongo Limited, Taha Jiwaji - CEO of Bongo Live and Co Founder of KINU.
Benedict
Tesha - Founder of Jamaa Technology speaking on entrepreneurship and
its' challenges in Tanzania and promoting self employment during the
Innovation week organised by Human Development innovation Fund (HDIF) in
Dar es Salaam earlier this week. From left Nisha Ligon - CEO of Ubongo
Limited, Taha Jiwaji - CEO of Bongo Live and Co Founder of KINU and
Faraja Nyalandu, Executive Director of Shule Direct.
Dr
Jacqueline Thomas, senior Scientist at Ifakara Health Institute (IHI)
speaks about the Kigamboni sludge treatment plant during the Innovation
Week that was organised by Human Development Innovation Fund earlier
this week in Dar es Salaam.
Mr.
David McGinty, Team Leader of Human Development Innovation Fund ( HDIF)
speaks during the innovation week that was held at Nafasi Art Space in
Dar es Salaam.
Andrew
Mahiga, Managing Director at Maanisha! speaks on Innovation during the
Innovation that was held at Nafasi Art Space earlier this week in Dar es
Salaam. To the left Gadi Ramadhani ( An artist), Paul Ndunguru ( An
artist at Alama) and to the far right is David McGinty, Team Leader at
Human Development Innovation Fund ( HDIF)
David
McGinty, Team Leader at Human Development Innovation Fund (HDIF)
creating an object with match sticks and a match box that was an
exercise during the innovation week held at the Nafasi Art Space earlier
this week.
---
The
Human Development Innovation Fund (HDIF) convenes entrepreneurs,
researchers, academics, creatives & development professionals to
collaborate and create social impact through innovation.
Last
week, HDIFcollaborated with BUNI Innovation Hub, KINU Innovation Hub,
DFID, World Bank, Commission for Science and Technology (COSTECH),
Deloitte and Nafasi Art Space to curate a series of interactive events,
exploring innovation in research, development, entrepreneurship,
technology and the arts. Individuals and organizations shared their
insights on innovation respective to their field of expertise for
audiences and collaborators from across sectors. This inaugural
Innovation Week was designed to catalyze on the innovation process in
Tanzania and provide inspiration and connections to individuals and
organizations on innovation.
HDIF
challenges Tanzanians to implement and scale innovative ideas for more
positive sustainable development impact and remove barriers to reach
innovation.Over 500 Tanzanians participated in the week-long events that
offered interactive seminars, workshops and trainings. David McGinty,
HDIF Team Leader commented, ‘We wanted to inspire the current and future
leaders in Tanzania to take risks on new ideas, collaborate across
sectors, and transform Tanzania through the scaling of innovation.’ He
explained ‘Strengthening Tanzania in innovation is a way to create
growth, raise the global profile of Tanzania, and tackleTanzania’s
social and economic challenges.’
Dr.
Donath Olomi, Partner of Tanzania Renewable Energy Business Hub was a
panelist during the week. He said ‘I have been genuinely surprised at
the attendance throughout this innovation week. It is clear that
Tanzanians believe they have potential innovative ideas and are looking
for partners, be it in the private or public sector, that can nurture
and support their ideas as they develop.’ He added ‘Events like these
will help stimulate cross-sector collaborationsin Tanzania to innovate
and find profitable ways of addressing key issues in Tanzania.’
Tanzania
ranks 123 out of 143 countries according to the Global Innovation Index
2014. Despite its many endowments, Tanzania remains a poor country by
both local and international standards. A mapping study conducted by
Sosthenes Sambua, Executive Director of Tanzania Entrepreneurship and
Competiveness Center (TECC)indicated that the lack of competitiveness in
Tanzania is attributed to three factors. The first is lack of
innovation policy comprehensive enough to catalyze innovation system in
the country. The second factor is lack of linkages between industry,
academia and government. The third factor is inadequate funding
available to commercialize innovative ideas. Mr. Sambuasays‘Platforms
like the Innovation Week that bring together policy makers, private
sector actors &entrepreneurs from across all sectors, creates
dialogue that will help lead to new orimproved policies that will
catalyze the innovation system in Tanzania.’
HDIF
was launched to fund innovative and sustainable solutions to create
social impact in education, health and WASH (water, sanitation and
hygiene) across Tanzania. The second funding round is scheduled for
mid-2015. Guidelines and important dates will be posted on the HDIF
website www.hdif-tz.org.
0 comments:
Post a Comment