AfriGadget

Maker Faire: Africa 2009

A couple weeks ago one of our inspirations for AfriGadget – Emeka Okafor of Timbuktu Chronicles – put forward an idea on the Ned forums about a “Maker Faire Africa“.

The aim of a Maker Faire-like event is to create a space on the continent where Afrigadget-type innovations, inventions and initiatives can be sought, identified, brought to life, supported, amplified, propagated, etc. Maker Faire Africa asks the question, “What happens when you put the drivers of ingenious concepts from Mali with those from Ghana and Kenya, and add resources to the mix?”

The focus here is not on high-tech, but on manufacturing. Specifically, fabrication, the type of small and unorganized businesses that pop up wherever an entrepreneur is found on the African continent. It gets exciting when you think about gathering some of the real innovators from this sector into one place where they can learn from each other and spread their knowledge from one part of the continent to another.

Old bicycle turned into a furnace bellows

A few fabrication stories on AfriGadget:

The organizing team will collaborate with the organizers of the International Development Design Summit (IDDS), which will be held at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in mid/late Summer 2009, to ensure a well-timed, visible, and celebratory event that draws upon IDDS outcomes and attracts new participants. The aim of Maker Faire Africa 2009 will be to establish partnerships and an organizing infrastructure that could lead to a series of events across the continent.

Needless to say, AfriGadget is 100% behind this initiative and will take an active role in both promotion and organizing, as needed.

[The Maker Faire Africa blog]

Tags: event, fabrication, ghana, idds, Make, maker

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19 comments for this post.

Comment from Taylor Martyn
7 October 2008 - 5:47 pm - :

You guys know I’m soon available in Nairobi and surrounding areas, as well as parts of South Sudan. Just let me know how I can help.

Comment from Erik Hersman
7 October 2008 - 10:31 pm - :

@Taylor – You should start contributing as soon as you get settled in. I’m sure South Sudan will have some excellent AfriGadget material.

Comment from Sean Rendell
8 October 2008 - 9:51 am - :

You may be interested in the “multimachine” group at yahoo… they make functional machines from odds and ends.

Comment from JKE
8 October 2008 - 2:01 pm - :

Narf! Now I am tempted to board the next plane and carry some capacity building & DIY manuals with me for a “build your own sustainable toilet” workshop.

Considering that proper water&sanitation facilities are basic needs, such an event could be the perfect platform to reach many multipliers who are else maybe only busy with mechanical & electronical imagineering jobs.

(there’s an ecological sanitation / closed loop project already active in Ghana @ Valley View University)

Comment from Anthony
8 October 2008 - 2:43 pm - :

Hey, sounds too cool. We are going thru Africa to bring solar ice makers there. Would love to participate. Check out our entry video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04PeSaFcXKQ
The way we are getting there
http://www.budapestbamako.org/en/

Comment from tre
8 October 2008 - 10:03 pm - :

How are you guys calling this Afrigadget?
This is kind of diminishing. They work hard to better their productions even with a huge lack of support from the rest of the world.

Comment from Heather Ford
8 October 2008 - 10:04 pm - :

Amazing synergies, Erik! I’ve been thinking about how cool it would be to have a Maker Faire Africa for a while now. *Very* interested to help. Question, though: Is this going to be a collaboration with Maker Faire in the U.S. or something new and independent?

Comment from Maker-Faire Africa! | hblog.org
8 October 2008 - 10:40 pm - :

[...] South Africa when Jess Hemerly from the Institute for the Study of the Future sent me a link to an AfriGadget post by Erik Hersman on the idea (original post by Emeka Okafor is here). I always wanted the iSummit to [...]

Comment from Erik Hersman
9 October 2008 - 1:25 am - :

@Anthony – interesting project, thanks for the link.

@Tre – I’m not sure how it’s diminishing, creating a way for these hard working innovators from across Africa to meet and transfer knowledge will only make it better.

@Heather – I’m in Jo’burg for the week, we should meet and talk it over.

Comment from Opera Tronickss » Blog Archive
9 October 2008 - 5:36 am - :

[...] Maker Faire: Africa 2009 (Afrigadget, thanks Emeka). [...]

Comment from tre
9 October 2008 - 10:49 am - :

Maybe I am little hard on this, but I simply don’t like the name calling AfriGadget. We both know the meaning of Gadget, it has the connotation of foreplay and over there it is about survival.

Comment from Paula Kahumbu
9 October 2008 - 11:46 am - :

Hi Tre,….ha ha ha … you obviously have some interesting gadgets at home! Man I had NO IDEA that there was a connection between foreplay and gadgets, you’ve opened my mind! Seriously though, some of the worlds most transformative inventions were gadgets starting with the wheel, bread slicer, telephone, flush loo….even the amazing ipod is a gadget (most of these have no relation to foreplay), …personally I love the name Afrigadget, it’s catchy and cool, and it describes things pretty well.

Comment from Maya
9 October 2008 - 1:33 pm - :

You might want to contact the folks at http://solarcooking.wikia.com — they have tons of free plans for solar cookers, ranging from simple cardboard-and-tinfoil to more intricate sheet metal setups. I’m sure they’d be interested in taking part, and may have good contacts on the ground in Africa.

Comment from Wayan
10 October 2008 - 10:03 pm - :

What a great idea! As the fabricators of low-power/energy efficient computing for Africa, often done running with duct tape, we’d love to participate.

Comment from A DIY manufacturing event for Africa, "Maker-style," in 2009? | Holly Swanson
10 October 2008 - 10:55 pm - :

[...] Maker Faire: Africa 2009 (Afrigadget, thanks Emeka). [...]

Comment from Tre
10 October 2008 - 11:25 pm - :

Hi Paula, aha ha. This is exactly what I was talking about. what might be harmless for maybe be totally different for others simply due to differences in cultures. Foreplay that was a good one. Eh I know my opinion won’t change nothing even if everyone wanted to. it will be a lost to change the site name. But eh at least I voice my opinion.
Again, thinks for helping them out to show off their skills.

Comment from jke
11 October 2008 - 5:12 am - :

Hey Tre,
just relax – in which ways should the term “AfriGadget” be diminishing? Instead, I think it appreciates the fact that ppl in regions with limited resources and lack of ready made products have found their own solutions. That is, many ppl – even in Africa – still believe that “the cool gadgets” only come from the outside. So with AfriGadget we’re not only trying to showcast these other solutions and provide them with a platform, but also create some awareness that there’s much more ppl can achieve.

As for the cultural differences – what do you think of when you hear the term AfriGadget? Does it imply any negative connotation for you? If yes, how? And in which culture? Thx.

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12 October 2008 - 3:22 am - :

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14 October 2008 - 5:11 pm - :

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