Through these roadshows, AIF will build partnerships with key government leaders, private companies, institutional organisations, innovation enablers, and investors. The delegation will host a range of meetings and presentations to enlist wider public and private sector participation in the IPA 2017, themed 'African Innovation: Investing in Prosperity'.

Pauline Mujawamariya Koelbl, IPA programme director, is enthusiastic about building synergies with potential new country host partners and says, “The roadshow is an essential leg of the IPA in terms of understanding the unique aspects of each country’s innovation landscape and the various parties involved in developing their own innovation ecosystems. It also allows AIF to catalyse the innovation spirit, galvanise support in raising the profiles of African innovators, and create expanded opportunities to attract the right investments at a Pan-African and international level.”

The three West African countries invited to bid to host the next IPA event, now in its sixth year running, have been selected based on their commitment towards driving innovation-led socio-economic growth at a national and international level. Being awarded the title as the AIF host country for IPA 2017 will provide the chosen country an opportunity to raise its innovation profile at a Pan-African and international level while forging new partnerships with regional innovation leaders and investors to strengthen their respective innovation ecosystems. To date, the prestigious award has been hosted in Botswana (2016), Morocco (2015), Nigeria (2014), South Africa (2013), and Ethiopia (2012).

During the roadshows, scheduled to take place from Monday, 5 December to Tuesday, 13 December, AIF will conduct a series of high-level meetings with ministries and government officials. These meetings seek to ascertain each country’s innovation development goals and outline synergies and areas of collaboration that can result from hosting the two-day IPA event. 

Walter Fust, AIF chairman of the board, fully supports partnerships with African governments and says, “We have come a long way since the inaugural IPA edition in Addis Ababa where leading African leaders endorsed the IPA and passed a resolution to support the AIF to promote innovation-based societies across the continent. Our theme this year, 'African Innovation: Investing in Prosperity', takes us a step further in our Pan-African vision to keep innovation at the forefront of all national agendas, and we look forward to working with our next host country for a ground-breaking IPA 2017.”

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