African inventors wanted at Maker Faire

  1. Posted on Monday 15 March 2010 - 12:00
    accreporter
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    Kent Mensah, AfricaNews editor in Accra, Ghana
    Maker Faire Africa - an annual event that celebrates African inventors in different sectors - comes off in Nairobi, Kenya from the 6-7 August 2010. The unique platform has brought into the limelight makers especially the youth who do not have the required resources to reach out to the public to showcase their inventions.
    Maker Fair
    The organizers of the show are on the lookout for potential makers for the Nairobi event. AfricaNews hooked up with one of the brains behind the concept Emeka Okafor on preparation towards the upcoming event:

    AfricaNews: Briefly tell us what the Maker Faire is about?

    Emeka Okafor: Its a celebration of African ingenuity, innovation and invention

    AfricaNews: What are you looking out for in Makers?
    Okafor: Inventiveness, resourcefulness, novelty and creative imagination

    AfricaNews: How different is the Maker Faire from other events such as this around
    the world?
    Okafor: The pre-requisites include "what you have made" as opposed to what you studied and how credentialed you may be. The emphasis is on interdisciplinary cross-pollination and hands-on education

    AfricaNews: What are some of your success stories?
    Okafor: It depends on how you define success. At the very least we believe that we are validating inventors and innovators across the board. The challenge is to build on that momentum and to strengthen their importance within society.

    AfricaNews: Why was Kenya chosen for this year’s event?
    Okafor: We intend to have an annual roving event that moves from one region of the continent to the next e.g. West Africa to East Africa

    AfricaNews: What would be the difference between this year’s event and that of
    Ghana?
    Okafor: We hope to have more makers from more countries...other yet to be announced surprises are in store.

    AfricaNews: What do you hope to achieve in Africa?
    Okafor: Be part of a process that instills a "culture of production"-'making'-'manufacturing'-'fabricating' at the most granular level across the continent

    AfricaNews: What is the future of the Maker Faire?
    Okafor: Hopefully beyond the major annual events, the seeding of self-organized micro-faires and associated incubating activities. We would like to see the emergence and explosion of hardware hacker spaces, Ihubs, techspaces etc. This along with seed funding for 'makers' would be considered a successful future for MFA

    Watch video of the 2009 Maker Faire in Ghana

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