African Deep Tech Ecosystems

Haitham’s white paper presents the outcomes of a two-day roundtable in Tunisia, gathering insights from a broad spectrum of stakeholders including entrepreneurs, researchers, and policymakers. It leverages the MIT Stakeholder’s Framework to propose a collaborative Pan-African strategy that involves entrepreneurs, universities, government entities, corporations, and financiers. The paper highlights the role of deeptech innovation in Africa as a key driver for sustainable economic development, improved quality of life, and increased resilience. It points out the challenges hindering deeptech growth in Africa, such as the scarcity of talent, capital, and supportive regulatory frameworks. The paper underscores the importance of Africa’s engagement in utilizing science and technology to tackle critical issues like energy, healthcare, and climate change. It calls for a unified approach to bolster deeptech ecosystems across the continent, aligning with global trends in AI to boost sustainable development, innovation, and competitiveness. The paper views deeptech not just as a tech investment but as a means to achieve inclusive growth and global competitiveness, emphasizing the need to build a strong deeptech community in Africa. This, in turn, would attract investment, skilled personnel, and inspire future innovators, thereby securing Africa's prosperity.
Haitham Khoury, PhD
Director of Fellowships and Global Initiatives, Legatum Center for Development and Entrepreneurship at MIT