Core Support to Ifakara Innovation Hub

Tanzania's development vision and policies highlight innovation as a critical factor to address ongoing health, environmental, and socioeconomic challenges. However, challenges remain, including limited funding, infrastructure gaps, and the need for more specialized training. This calls for collaborative initiatives and core support to help foster a more self-sufficient approach to health, science, and technology.

The IIH, supported by Switzerland and Fondation Botnar since 2019, is the first of its kind to be situated in rural Tanzania, bringing together scientists, prototype developers, start-up entrepreneurs and end users to develop innovative indigenous solutions to address local health and livelihood challenges. The requested core support will sustain IIH in its journey as an independent entity to execute its Strategic Plan 2023-2028 prioritizing institutional development, resource mobilization, support to innovators, and evidence for policy change.

• Local and international innovators, researchers, and end-users
• Research and academic institutions public and private, local and international
• Policy makers such as ministries of health, education, and finance
• Regulatory authorities such as the Tanzania Medicines and Medical Devices Authority (TMDA) and Commission for Science and Technology (COSTECH)
• Private companies and makerspaces 
• Investors

• Community: Young rural innovators, entrepreneurs, and researchers are supported to transform creative health and livelihoods ideas into market impactmaking products and services
• Institution: Internal systems, institutional development capacity and sustainability of IIH are strengthened
• Ecosystem: The innovation ecosystem in Tanzania is supported to flourish through policy influence and knowledge sharing

Principaux résultats attendus:  

• Internal institutional functions are strengthened for efficient operations
• At least 20 innovations incubated, 6 commercialised
• 500+ jobs created through 30+ emergent enterprises
• At least USD 2million raised in institutional funding to sustainably support strategic activities
• At least 1 major national policy influenced by IIH

Principaux résultats antérieurs:  

• Registered as an independent rural-based entrepreneurship and innovation support organization (EISOs)
• Trained 229 young innovators and entrepreneurs (46% female) with 6 hosted in Switzerland for a 3-month Entrepreneurs in Residency (EiR) programme
• Incubated 21 healthcare and sustainable energy innovations with 11 moving beyond the minimum viable product (MVP) stage and 3 commercialised
• Invested USD 150,000 direct seed funding to future successes, eg. NovFeed, a USD 1million prizewinner
• Forged 10 formal partnerships with academia and makerspaces to accelerate innovations
• Successfully hosted the country's 1st multistakeholder convening on medical devices and technologies