Grounding the dream of African innovation hubs: two cases in Kigali

Journal article

Innovation hub organizations have become a fixture in African cities. Proponents of hubs commonly envision them to function as network infrastructures. Specifically, hubs are conceived of as network intermediaries within entrepreneurial ecosystems, allowing for seamless collaboration between diverse actors. This paper grounds such visions and conceptualizations, presenting case studies of two hubs in Rwanda: kLab and The Office. It draws on interviews with 47 participants with a stake in technology entrepreneurship in Kigali, about half of them founders or CEOs of small technology startups. Ultimately, the case studies show that implementation realities of hubs are far removed from aspirational visions. Notably, the paper finds that facets of community (such as boundaries and cultures) need to be continually negotiated between hub leaders and entrepreneurs, resulting in tensions and tradeoffs.

Authors: Friederici, N

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: World Scientific Publishing Company
• Journal: Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship
• Volume: 23
• Issue: 2
• Publication date: 2018-06-01
• Acceptance date: 2018-05-20
• DOI: 10.1142/S1084946718500127
• EISSN: 1793-706X
• ISSN: 1084-9467
• Keywords: innovation hubs; intermediaries; Rwanda; Africa; entrepreneurial ecosystems