Innovation Spaces - Republic of Burundi
The Burundi Business Incubator was set up in 2010 and has received financial and technical support through USAID and the Dutch Embassy to supporting training programmes and local capacity building. It provides both pre-incubation and incubation services. It provides pre-incubation, coaching, mentoring and business networks for start up companies. BBIN cooperated with SPARK from June 2017 to January 2018, with support from UNDP, to support young people to set up SMES and community action groups in Burundi.
During 2013 the Segal Family Foundation piloted the Social Impact Incubator in Bujumbura as a capacity building programme and the first cohort graduated in October 2013. During 2014 in partnership with CARE International Burundi, the Social Impact Incubator took in another cohort of 24 incubates. Over 60 organisations participated in SII Burundi during 2013 - 2015. Remote support was provided to partners from 2015.
The UNICEF Burundi Innovation Lab is focused around technology for development; micro-energy rural entrepreneurship models and leveraging tools and mobile-based platforms to address national challenges. Ideas Box was launched in Burundi as a UNHCR initiative, focused on addressing local thematic challenges, such as energy or education, with projects prototyped and tested in UNHCR operations around the world.
Spark is a Dutch based not-for-profit, which is focused on supporting entrepreneurship and access to higher education for students in post-conflict societies, with African offices including Liberia, Rwanda and Burundi.
Spark supported projects focused on addressing entrepeneurship development in Burundi include Agri-business Incubation Network (ABIN) Programme (focused on establishing a network of rural agribusiness incubation centres across Burundi), Agri Business Creation (ABC) programme (coaching emerging entrepreners through training, mentoring and business plan support) and the Entrepreneurship Development Programme (MFS II - 2011 - 2016) supported by the Dutch AGovernment and delivered in partnership with the BiD Network, which focused on promoting entrepreneurship and job creation through supporting local partners, developing partner capacity and advocating for improved business enabling environment in Kosovo, Liberia, the Palestinian Territories, Burundi and Rwanda.
