Accra Named Among Top 5 Ecosystem Active Tech Hub

GSMA’s Ecosystem Accelerator Africa Tech Hubs Landscape 2018 Report has named Ghana’s capital Accra among the top ecosystems by number of active hubs in Africa.

The recent research carried out between January and March 2018 and co-authored by Dario Giuliani placed Accra, with 16 hubs, at fifth position.

Nigeria’s second largest city Lagos top the list with 31 Hub followed by Cape Town in South Africa also with 26 Hubs. Kenya’s capital city Nairobi was adjudged the third with 25 active hubs whilst Cairo, Egypt was given the fourth position for having 23 hubs.

The Report noted how Lagos has now taken over as the African city with the highest number of tech hubs (31) and potentially the leading innovation hub on the continent, especially after MEST, Google and Facebook announced the opening of local tech hubs between 2017 and 2018.

It also revealed how over the past two years, secondary ecosystem cities including Johannesburg, Kumasi, and Alexandria all in Africa have also caught some light, denoting the growth of the national tech scenes outside of the main economic hub.

GSMA Ecosystem Accelerator Africa Tech Hubs Report further explained that In Africa, countries like Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire, for instance, have experienced a significant growth in the number of active tech hubs over the past year.

“Since 2016 the Ghanaian ecosystem – home to hubs such as MEST and iSpace – has grown by 50% (from 16 to 24). Similarly, Abidjan in Cote d’Ivoire has gradually positioned itself as the new catalyst of innovation across Francophone Africa and has seen its number of active tech hubs double. Zimbabwe (13) and Uganda (16) led the way in ‘tier 2’ ecosystems in Southern and East Africa respectively,” it stated.

Although Nigeria tops the list of Cities with active hubs, it remains the second in Africa as the country with 55 active hubs. South Africa is currently the continental leader with 59 active hubs whilst North African giant Egypt occupies the third position with 33 active hubs and trailed by Kenya also with 31 active hubs. The rest are Morocco 25, Ghana 24, Tunisia 17, Uganda 16, Zimbabwe 13, Cote D’Ivoire 13 and Senegal 12.