In communities across Africa, people are finding ways to solve everyday problems using the skills, materials and resources available to them. Some are developing tools for farmers, others are building small businesses or creating services that respond to needs often overlooked by larger industries.
Their work may not attract the attention given to major technology startups or heavily funded businesses, but it forms part of a wider culture of local innovation.
In Rwanda, as elsewhere across the continent, these stories can be found in small workshops, neighbourhood businesses and community initiatives. Many remain largely unknown outside the places where they operate.
A new initiative involving Ghanaian digital storyteller Wode Maya and pan-African organisation Africa No Filter is seeking to bring some of these stories to a wider audience.
The #NotWaiting Challenge, launched under the Opportunity Africa campaign, is looking for five stories of people across Africa who are building solutions, creating opportunities or addressing challenges in their communities.
The initiative reflects a growing interest in looking beyond Africa’s better-known technology and business sectors to understand the people developing practical solutions at a local level.
Wode Maya has built an audience by travelling across the continent and documenting African entrepreneurs, businesses and communities. Through this challenge, he and Africa No Filter are turning attention to individuals whose contributions may not yet have reached a wider audience.
The search also raises a broader question about how innovation is recognised. While investment and technology hubs often dominate discussions about Africa’s economic future, many solutions begin with individuals responding to problems they encounter in their daily lives.
The challenge is seeking five stories, but its wider focus is on the people and ideas that rarely make the headlines — and what their experiences reveal about the many ways Africans are shaping solutions within their own communities.
