The Bandwidth Barn incubator model could be packaged and exported to countries across Africa, with the Mauritian government already in the process of building their own such incubator.
Allan Winde, South Africa’s Western Cape Minister for Finance, Economic Development and Tourism, revealed the success of the government-funded Cape Town incubator to attendees at Net Prophet in yesterday.
He said the Mauritian government had been so impressed with the model they are currently in the process of building Bandwidth Barn Mauritius, with the aid of the Cape Town team.
The first export of the Bandwidth Barn model prompted Winde to propose it as a potential South African contribution to furthering the startup ecosystem across Africa.
“Imagine if we do have a Bandwidth Barn in every country in Africa,” he said. “Imagine what it would mean to techies, and entrepreneurs [across the continent], if they have access to all of these solutions across Africa.”
Winde revealed the South African government is now in the process of developing “Bandwidth Barn Africa” – a programme which will see the Bandwidth Barn incubator model packaged and sold across Africa to countries wishing to support their own startup communities.
“I do believe this is going to create a huge opportunity for you,” Winde said.
