Academic City University College, Ghana’s premium institution for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics and Entrepreneurship, has announced a partnership with Makelab and the Israeli Embassy to develop a makerspace to increase youth employment opportunities in the country.
According to reports, Africa’s youth population is growing and expected to reach 2.4 billion by 2050. This demographic trend has significantly exacerbated the continent’s unemployment situation.
In this regard, the ‘MakeLab ACITY-Accra’ makerspace will be located on the Academic City campus and is critical in the fight to improve youth employment in Ghana and beyond.
When completed, the initiative will make a significant contribution to providing more support for youth entrepreneurship, including business skills and connections with financial and in-kind support.
The centre will be open to the public and offer open-source access to rapid prototyping, testing and piloting of products and goods, including fabrication labs (fablabs), hackerspaces, hubs and, to some extent, co-working spaces.
“We are pleased to collaborate with MakeLab and the Israeli Embassy in bringing a world-class makerspace to the doorstep of Ghanaian youth – which will go a long way toward promoting creativity and innovation, and harnessing the energy of Ghanaian youth and partners to leverage on technology to create sustainable solutions for some of the biggest challenges on the continent of Africa,” said Makafui Awuku, Technology and Entrepreneurship Centre (TEC) Manager.
“This project will go a long way toward achieving Academic City’s goal of fostering transformational leaders for the continent’s development,” he added. “We look forward to utilising the Centre once it is completed, to address local issues in innovative and cost-effective ways.”
Avi Ostfeld, Founder of MakeLab Network, remarked: “We are delighted to be working with Academic City and the State of Israel to establish this second African MakeLab centre. This is a great start here in Ghana.
“MakeLab centres are here to foster creativity, which is the engine of innovation. MakeLab is the platform for everyone to come, use the tools and fabrication means, explore, create, share and contribute back to the MakeLab Network community and the physical centres – which are being developed by the community itself,” he noted further.
On her part, Shlomit Sufa, Ambassador of Israel to Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone said: “We are excited to begin this partnership with Academic City University College and MakeLab. This project will enable us to share the spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship, and demonstrate the technological capabilities of Israel in a manner that will benefit innovators, creators and entrepreneurs in Accra and all over Ghana”.
The Makelab ACITY-Accra
Academic City students and staff pose with H.E. Ambassador of Israel and reps of MakeLab
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