The TAM’s panel discussion on successful management of an incubation center was steered by Eng. Anke Weisheit from Mbarara University of Science and Technology, Mr. Pascal Nyiringango from the University of Rwanda and Dr Never Zekeya an entrepreneur in Tanzania.
Dr. Never Zekeya: From Researcher to Entrepreneur
Dr Never Zekeya is CEO and founder of Plant Defenders, a Tanzanian start-up focused on bio-pesticides, bio-fertilizers, and natural agricultural products. Zekeya shared her experiences from researcher and incubatee to entrepreneur. Her start-up was incubated at the CREATES Center of Excellence at Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology (NM-AIST), Tanzania.
She says that while a lot of money is spent on pest control with the widely used synthetic pesticides, they cause resistance and are harmful to humans and to the environment and are costly for smallholder farmers.
She noted that some of the most difficult pests to control are fall army worm in maize, false codling moth in avocado, tuta absoluta in tomato and coffee berry borer in coffee cherries. For animal the biggest challenge is ticks and tick-borne disease. As a PhD student at NMAIST her research aimed to address these challenges.
With the support of CREATES, Zekeya commercialised her flagship product, Vuruga Biopesticide, a fungal based biopesticide that she developed during her PhD studies. “I have already commercialised the product and it works on maize, tomato, avocado and other agricultural pests. It has a long shelf life and affordable.”
Another product is vector biocide, already on the market in Tanzania, for controlling ticks in livestock and in wildlife settings like Ngorongoro.
She cited challenges faced in her entrepreneurship journey such as limited funding, scepticism toward local innovations, the high cost of IP protection, among others. Nevertheless, she has won several awards for her innovations including two Tanzanian national awards in 2024: best patent and best female innovator with leading patents.
“This at least is encouraging as a scientist and for other scientists and academia, it shows that that if we work on innovation at least we are being recognized and money will come later.”
Mr. Pascal Nyiringango: Advocating for University-Led Start-Up Incubation
Pascal is a strong advocate for university led start-up incubation. At the University of Rwanda where he leads incubation he noted that the university’s incubation program now graduates 12+ start-ups annually, up from just 5, and many have transitioned into viable businesses. However, many start-ups struggle post-graduation due to poor market understanding, high taxes, poor internet access, and unaffordable interest rates.
Nyiringango decried the mismatch between academia and industry with universities focusing on lengthy research timelines while industries want faster turnaround. Professors often focus on publishing instead of commercialising innovations or creating spin-offs.
Pascal emphasised the importance of Maker Spaces. Africa lacks the infrastructure such as CNC machines, 3D printers, fabrication labs. Without these, innovations remain micro-scale, passion-driven, and unsustainable. “Others are at nanotechnology development fabricating something that fits within their purpose. Here in Africa we are at micro fabrication,” observed.
Eng. Anke Weisheit: Building a Thriving Incubation Ecosystem
The technical lead for incubation at Mbarara University of Science and Technology (MUST), shared experiences gained from hosting an incubation center under the Africa Center of Excellence at MUST.
The Pharmbiotrac Incubation Center focused on natural products, traditional medicine, cosmetics, beverages, nutraceuticals, and materials science. Pharmbiotrac had two innovation pathways: External through short trainings, ad-hoc support and Internal that offered full in-house product development through to certification and production. They host about 30 incubatees with a good gender balance and mostly Ugandans. Products range from tinctures and cosmetics to functional drinks.
The incubation center is on high demand and from diverse talent. Academicians, non-academic staff, students and community members without formal degrees all seek support.
The center has the support and buy in of the university, regulatory agencies such as the National Drug Authority and the Standards Bureau while peer hubs supply expertise.
The incubation center has certified production facilities which have made downstream licensing easier for incubatees. A permanent museum/showroom has enabled donor, policymaker and investor visits without repeatedly disrupting entrepreneurs while boosting visibility at low cost.
She called for scholarship-style stipends for entrepreneurs: “Treat a young innovator like a master’s or PhD student – let them ‘graduate’ with a product and jobs, not just a thesis.”
Financing to incubatees should be staged into three grant tranches – proof-of-concept, pilot, scale-up rather than one-off micro-grants.
Eng Weisheit recommends that multiple incubators on one campus should work under a single framework and a central sales point so that the public can easily access the innovations.
She also recommends curriculum reform that includes entrepreneurship/innovation as a service course as well as engagement of industry practitioners to co-teach and review programmes. She also proposes that academia should reward patents and products equivalently to papers and allow product-creation to count toward master’s/PhD credit.
