Afrique Innovation supporting innovation in online media in Africa

Africa has more than 300 million Internet users, 53 million Facebook users and 650 million mobile phone users.
A new media ecosystem is emerging, and with it fantastic opportunities for newly democratising countries to access freer, more diverse information. In view of this development, CFI and Code For Africa have joined forces to launch Afrique Innovation. The aim of this project is to help a new generation of African media professionals to create and develop innovative information products and services in line with advances in technology and usage and the expectations of the continent's citizens.

Afrique Innovation will also help journalists and web developers with innovative ideas to compile, process and distribute information in the era of the Internet, mobile phones, social networks, data journalism and all the new techniques that are shaking up the media ecosystem in Africa. The project is designed to enhance the quality and impact of online African journalism and expand its audience using economic models that encourage independent work.

A MOOC designed to foster the emergence of innovative projects

CFI and Code For Africa will firstly organise a series of 6 hackathons and 6 data bootcamps on the continent to bring together local journalists and web developers. The first hackathon is scheduled for 17–19 April in Abidjan.

At the same time, Afrique Innovation will offer a MOOC (massive open online course)-type online training course centred on two parallel fields of study: one for web journalists and the other for IT developers. The aim is for as many young African web professionals as possible to be able to submit an innovative project to the Afrique Innovation panel by the end of the course through the support of a remote/online mentoring system.

One million dollars mobilised in support of the projects

After an initial continent-wide selection procedure, the candidates with the best projects will take part in a fast-track training programme led by international mentors. Following a final selection phase, the most promising projects will receive funding and take a share of an overall pot of one million dollars (10,000 to 100,000 dollars per project).

Organisation of hackathons:
These events give web application developers the opportunity to set up teams around project leads with the aim of creating a prototype application within a few hours.
Abidjan: 17/19 April 2015
Dakar (Senegal), Antananarivo (Madagascar), Douala (Cameroon), Tunis (Tunisia), Casablanca (Morocco)

List of dBootcamps:
Data bootcamps are workshops that focus on the use of data. Web application developers will consolidate the prototype application.
Abuja (Nigeria), Accra (Ghana), Dar es Salaam (Tanzania), Johannesburg (South Africa), Kampala (Uganda), Nairobi (Kenya)

Afrique Innovation, a project by:

In partnership with: