Maker Faire Africa (MFA) is a celebration of African ingenuity, innovation and creation. It comes in form of a yearly event which has previously taken place at Accra, Nairobi and Cairo in 2009, 2010 and 2011 respectively. The 2012 edition will be taking place in Lagos Nigeria from November 5th to 6th, 2012, and Maker Faire Africa promises to deliver on its method of cultivating new and existing maker communities across Africa.
As was the case in Accra (‘09), Nairobi (’10), and Cairo (’11), MFA 2012 will present and spotlight the vibrant and endlessly creative individuals that have come to represent the spirit of ‘making’ throughout the continent.
These innovators, artists and tinkerers will be exhibiting a fusion of the informal and formal; ideas, inventions, hacks and designs both low-tech & high-tech, from cuisine to machines. Come see their re-imagining of products, exploration of novel materials, and original solutions for some of the continent’s most important challenges and opportunities.
A sip from the previous Maker Faire Africa Event
2009 – Accra Ghana
The inaugural Maker Faire Africa 2009 took place in Accra, Ghana. It was the first Pan-African event to highlight the creativity and ingenuity of makers across the continent. Consisting of hardware hackers, robotocists, designers, artists, engineers and inventors, amongst others. Maker Faire Africa 2009 broke new ground on the methods needed to nurture innovation. In the minds of participants, it highlighted the importance of invention as an endeavour in itself.
2010 – Nairobi Kenya
On the heels of MFA’09, Maker Faire Africa 2010 continued to build on the notion that Africa’s makers where emerging as a force in their own right. Highlights of the event, which was held at the University of Nairobi, included the launch of MFA’s new Match-A-Maker site, an online directory of Maker Faire Africa participants. Notable supporters and participants included Fablab Nairobi, Kiber
In addition to the Solar Makers and Crafting Peace workshops co-hosted by Butterflyworks, the event saw the launch of the seminal book on informal manufacturers ‘Making DO’ by Steve Daniels and the launch of the GE Mentorship Prize which was awarded to Robert Mburu. The attendance of accomplished makers like Dominic Wanhija, a participant in the ‘09 event in Accra, helped plant the seeds for a sustainable intra-Africa maker community which continues to grow.
2011 – Cairo Egypt
This took place in Egypt, October 6-8th, 2011, and presented and spotlighted the vibrant and endlessly creative individuals that came to represent the spirit of ‘making’ throughout the continent. Maker Faire Africa 2011 was indeed a celebratory showcase of unhindered experimentation and curiosity and now it’s off to Lagos, Nigeria for the 2012 Edition.
