Business incubators are popular tools to accelerate creation of successful entrepreneurial companies. These incubators typically support new ventures in the hope they will later develop into self-sustaining, thriving companies. The support encompasses several dimensions such as office space, shared resources, business support, and access to networks.

There are large numbers of incubators in the European Union, the US, China, etc. and incubators number are fast increasingglobally. Though the trend is also upside in Africa, there is still need for more incubators and to improve the scope and quality of services they are rendering and their effectiveness to drive young African workforce into entrepreneurships and create the highly needed jobs that will reduce unemployment, alleviate poverty, and spur structural transformation.   

Business incubators frequently publicly funded, sometimes with support of donors and often in line with a growing interest of policy makers in making them central in economic stimulation and rejuvenation programs. Despite governments’ efforts in African countries to  institutionalize business incubators, their effectiveness is hindered by insufficient funding, and knowledge and expertise that are commensurate with the objectives of the incubators. The deficit of incubators and/or their resources gapcan be compensated by private sector and civil society initiatives  or adoption of online virtual models that reduce establishment and operationalization costs more effective. 

It is to that end that AfroSkills as a technology-driven initiative has established its virtual business incubator to share resources, provide training and business support globally and more efficiently and cost-effectively.

The main objective of Rabawa (the incubator) is to provide essential support to business ideas carriers and startup owners in Africa to grow their ideas to startups and their startups to flourishing businesses. Specifically, Rabawa supports participants to:

1) Acquire skills and knowledge to structure their projects and grow their businesses

2) Share and mutualize resources to reduce costs and benefitfrom experience of others

3) Raise funds and secure technical and commercial partners to help their businesses kickoff and expand both in their countries and abroad

4) Foster collaboration amongst African entrepreneurs to facilitate formation of partnerships and joint-ventures for regional expansion and drive intra-African trade.

As per the scope, thanks to its virtual nature supported by digital technology, Rabawa is accessible globally. Participants can come from all countries. Although it targets Africans in Africa and the diaspora, people from other continents are also welcomed to participate. All business areas are concerned. Art & culture, languages and humanities, tourisms, energy, Information Technology, agriculture and agroindustry, health and nutrition, mining, oil and gas, education, and training, etc.

1) Capacity building in business and entrepreneurship related topics

2) Fundraising 

3) Technical and commercial partnering