Green Technologies: IRESEN, GIZ Germany Launch Capacity Building Program for Innovation Hubs

Dakar – The Research Institute for Solar Energy and New Energies (IRESEN) in partnership with the German International Cooperation Agency (GIZ) and Viridian, launched Monday in Dakar, the program Hubs GoGreentech (HUGG) for capacity building of innovation hubs for startups specializing in green technologies in Francophone Africa.

This one-year program is designed for incubators, gas pedals and innovation hubs wishing to develop expertise and a network in the green technology sector. Through a custom-designed bootcamp and follow-up activities throughout the year, hubs will have access to tools, resources, an operating guide and support to develop their strategy.

In a statement to MAP, on the sidelines of the launch of this program, director of R&D and Innovation Programs, Sarah Diouri stressed that the HUGG program is part of the initiative “Make-IT in Africa” of the GIZ, noting that the bootcamp launch that will last one week brings together ten hubs from different African countries including Senegal, Togo, Côte d’Ivoire, Benin and Burkina Faso.

IRESEN and Viridian are in charge of the deployment of this program until the end of this year to strengthen the capacity of these different innovation hubs, help them to better specialize in their support of startups and develop specialized programs for startups in the field of greentech, said Diouri.

During this bootcamp each day has well-defined themes, including greentech, positioning, strategic marketing, building a community of a network and writing an action plan, she said, adding that meetings with funders on site to strengthen links with the climate finance community and the community of support for the innovation program in Greentech, are also planned.

Thanks to its energy transition strategy implemented since 2009, Morocco has been able to build an ecosystem and has developed research and innovation infrastructure that can inspire other African countries, she said, adding that the role of IRESEN is to share this experience especially in innovation in greentech and integrate into the African network.

For his part, the GIZ representative for the “Make-IT in Africa” initiative, Alex Gbetie, said that this entrepreneurial initiative aims to support innovation ecosystems in Africa, to make them more dynamic and resilient.