Innovation Spaces - The Republic of Mozambique
Even though a Business Incubator Strategy was developed through IPEME, traditionally there has been limited tech entrepreneurship support in Mozambique.
On 10 May 2012, by Decree No. 6/2012 of 10 May, the Council of Ministers created the Science and Technology Park located at Maluana to manage the flow of knowledge and act as a bridge between research and the market that enhances and increment, development, transfer and commercialization of technology and innovation. It is the duty of the Park to boost development in the areas of Innovation, Science and Technology and the communities in which it is deployed.
Mozambique Information and Communication Technology Institute (MICTI) was initially established within the University of Eduardo Mondlane to provide an Institute for Research and Learning and a Business and Technology Incubator.
Mozambique was a beneficiary through the Finnish government funding of the Southern African Innovation Support (SAIS) Programme and STIFIMO Programme, both of which aimed to strengthen the national Innovation ecosystem in particating countries. The Maputo Living Lab was established in 2011 as part of a three-year project funded the Province of Trentino Italy to build capacity through Summer Schools for students and pre-Incubation through the Informatics Laboratory. RLabs Mozambique followed in later 2013 with funding support from SAIS 1.
Ideialab was established in 2010 and provides business development services as well as local content development. It organises a number of initiatives focused on supporting entrepreneurship, including regular 3 day ideate bootcamps organised with Standard Bank. Ideiaiab is the implementing partners in the Orange Corners Maputo co-working space supported by the Dutch Embassy, BancABC, Heineken and Shell. OCM provides access to the #BIZ incubation program, which organises workshops and events, mentoring. master classes, as well as business coaching. The Google for Entrepreneurs Startup WeekenD in Mozambique is promoted by ideiaLab and UX. IdeiaLab is responsible for the business and entrepreneurship track of the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) in Mozambique. Maputo Campus is the Lusophone hub for this initiative.
Recent players include: MozDevz (2013) as a community of Application Developers; IPEME Incubator - which is operated by the Instituto Para Promocao Das Pequenas E Medias Empresas (IPEME ); and IDEARIO , which was launched in Summer 2014 as a tech hub and co-working space offering Pre-Incubation and a 30 day Acceleration Programme. IdeiaLab was cooperating with the FemTech SAIS Programme in Mozambique.
MozDevz is a platform that connects students, professionals and enthusiasts in the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) sector to the private sector and civil society organizations. MozDevz builds capacity of its constituents through development programs and skill tests, Hackathons, meetings and short training programs, with the ultimate goal of preparing and integrating them into the labor market through our network of partners
