Maker Faire Africa comes to South Africa for the first time today (5 December) for two days.
Taking place at Sci-Bono Discovery Centre Maker Faire Africa follows in the footsteps of events in Accra (Ghana, 2009), Nairobi (Kenya, 2010), Cairo (Egypt, 2011) and Lagos (Nigeria, 2013).
“We are very excited about Maker Faire Africa’s arrival in Johannesburg,” says Emeka Okafor, co-founder of Maker Faire Africa(MFA).
“Over the past four Faires, we have celebrated global ingenuity and innovation from the dynamic perspective of Africa’s emerging maker communities. And, from the very start, the localisation of the maker movement has been uppermost in our minds. Our orientation has always been towards assessing and valuing what each country, what each region, each culture has, that is unique to them and celebrating it – and Johannesburg is the latest stop on this incredibly exciting journey.”
Maker Faire Africa offers South African makers the opportunity to showcase their wares, along with inventors from across the continent. Past events have seen more than 400 inventions showcased, including light up glasses built from recycled materials, a generator than can produce six hours of electricity with one litre of urine and conductive woven textiles.
“We are really excited to see what South African innovators will be exhibiting and working on during the Johannesburg Faire,” says MFA co-organizer and Maker liaison, Henry Barnor.
“In Africa, inventions tend to be focused on items that solve immediate and fundamental needs issues such as agriculture, health and electricity. But the scope of Maker Faire Africa is so that there are always some daring innovations that take even those of us who have been involved in the Faire for several years by surprise.”
Maker Faire Africa Johannesburg will showcase projects and prototypes of South African makers whose explorations take them to the edges of science, engineering, design, robotics, agriculture, health, the environment and more. The event will also include workshops, demos, mashups, and discussion panels around seed starting ideas for new collaborations in open innovation across the continent.
Like its predecessors, Maker Faire Africa Johannesburg is open to the public who will be able to join in the making with the PopUp Maker Space. The public days take place on 5 and 6 December.
