“It takes a village to raise a child,
and it takes an eco-system to raise a start-up.”
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African countries
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Tech start-ups
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Ecosystem partners
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Mentorships
TECH ENTREPRENEURSHIP INITIATIVE ‘MAKE-IT IN AFRICA’
WE PROMOTE DIGITAL INNOVATION FOR SUSTAINABLE AND INCLUSIVE DEVELOPMENT
About Us
Our mission
In close collaboration with corporate and financing partners, social enterprises, hubs and networks, we support the growth of an enabling environment for young entrepreneurs in the digital sector – to facilitate better access to finance, markets and skills.
Our goals
- Unleash the creativity and potential of entrepreneurs
- Collaborate with the brightest minds to shape a digital future
- Promote digital technologies to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals
- Create new jobs and opportunities
Our approach
- Inspire. digital innovation by sharing good practices and showcases
- Connect. and support tech start-ups through matchmaking and other exposure opportunities
- Develop. and create a supportive environment for digital entrepreneurship
Selected Programmes
Make-IT Accelerator
The Make-IT Accelerator strengthens entrepreneurs’ skills to help scale their innovation and achieve growth, cooperation and investment readiness.
Digital Innovation Made in Africa
We use different formats like exhibitions, web clips and online catalogues to showcase selected tech entrepreneurs focusing on social impact.
Entrepreneurs’ Guides to Investment
Explaining how to access capital in Kenya and Nigeria to foster financing opportunities. These guides share information, match start-ups and investors, introduce funding instruments and share investor directories.
More
More
TEF-GIZ entrepreneurship programme 2018
Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) and Make-IT in Africa collaborate to strengthen 210 ICT and tech-enabled entrepreneurs with capacity development, mentoring and seed funding aimed at creating new jobs and growth in 54 African countries.
Airbus BizLab & Make-IT joint accelerator programme
Airbus BizLab and Make-IT in Africa’s joint accelerator #africa4future aims to support 10 tech start-ups in the fields of unmanned logistics and remote sensing to find technology solutions contributing to UN SDG #9 Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure.
Testimonials
I really appreciated Make-IT's support during the event and even before. They ensured the visibility of the participating start-ups and tried to put us in contact with investment decision-makers, in addition to organizing panels around very interesting topics.
The support is fantastic and helpful. It has helped us to further shape our business into a more profitable solution. It has also helped us highlight some of the activities that we should continue to track. We are also further highlighting our unique value proposition. It has been a fantastic journey.
The support from Make-IT has been phenomenal. Especially the weekly workshops and frequent check-ups with the Cc-HUB team. We are currently receiving a lot of actionable advice especially on our additional product, a supply chain management system. Through Make-IT, we have also gotten linkages to Technoserve and CARI project.
The sessions and facilitators provided by CCHub have been fantastic, and we have had a lot of learning points that have guided us towards properly positioning our business for scale. Before the accelerator, we started off thinking we needed money to scale, only to discover gaping holes in terms of our offering as well as skills gaps that we must fill; before we think about fund raising.
Impact Since 2017 …
… 185 digital entrepreneurs from 23 countries in East and West Africa have received support directly and indirectly from Make-IT, to build capacity, acquire investment (of more than USD 1.7 million), set up their businesses, establish new partnerships and scale up their innovations. 46% of these are female founders.
… 6,024 founders and employees in tech start-ups and their local business partners have improved their capacity for growth, increased income and developed future-proof employability.
… more than 2,9 million people have already been reached through innovative digital products from start-ups with a high potential for social impact in key sectors. These include e-agriculture, e-health, fintech, education and smart energy.
Our Team
Dr Jan Schwaab
Head of Programme
@ GIZ Eschborn, Germany
Matthias Rehfeld
Senior Adviser
MAKE-IT DESK BERLIN
@ WeWork Berlin, Germany
Chiemelie Umenyiora
Make-IT Desk Coordinator
MAKE-IT DESK LAGOS
@ Impact Hub Lagos, Nigeria
Stephanie Wiedner
Adviser
@ GIZ Eschborn, Germany
Gideon Berhane
Junior Adviser
@ GIZ Eschborn, Germany
Johanna Hartung
Component Head
@ GIZ Accra, Ghana
Aragash Asfaw
Component Head
@ GIZ Nairobi, Kenya
Chandi Tome
Junior Make-IT Desk Coordinator
@ GIZ Nairobi, Kenya
Merryl Omondi
Adviser
@ GIZ Nairobi, Kenya
Andrea Ermert
International Controller
@ GIZ Eschborn, Germany
Ngukeghen Haastrup
Regional Controller
@ Impact Hub Lagos, Nigeria
Stephan Daiber
Intern
@ GIZ Eschborn, Germany
Fatma Feki
Make-IT Desk Coordinator
@GIZ Tunis, Tunisia
Jörg Uehlin
Adviser
@GIZ Bonn, Germany
Norman Schraepel
Component manager
@GIZ Tunis, Tunisia
Emmanuel Mumuni
Make-IT Desk Coordinator
@GIZ Accra, Ghana
