WINDHOEK - The construction of the Start-up Incubation and Innovation Centre was launched officially with a groundbreaking ceremony on the premises of the Bokamoso Entrepreneurial Centre in Katutura on Wednesday.

The Start-up Incubation and Innovation Centre is a joint Namibian-German technical cooperation project for sustainable economic development, implemented by the Ministry of Industrialisation, Trade and SME Development (MITSMED) and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH on behalf of the German government. 

The land on which the start-up centre will be built has been availed by the City of Windhoek through a council resolution. 

The start-up centre will incubate start-ups and serve as a “one-stop-shop” for all. In addition, mobile outreach units will serve start-ups in three regions across the country. A contractor selected through an international tender will run the start-up centre as an independent entity with a sustainable business model. 

The start-up centre will house a co-working space, where start-ups can rent affordable office space at flexible conditions. It will nurture an inclusive community of entrepreneurs, that will support and learn from each other. In addition, a so-called maker-space will offer opportunities to start-ups to build, experiment and prototype with both traditional and new technologies.

Nina Maritz is the lead architect on the project, and with her sound expertise and long experience in sustainable architecture, the start-up centre is expected to live and breathe innovation with eco-friendly and recycled building materials, self-sufficient power systems and water-saving measures. 

The centre will open its doors to the public in June 2020. Until the end of the project,  the centre is anticipated to support the founding of a minimum of 150 start-ups and assist a further 500 founders to start their businesses through various support programmes.