Match a Maker is a great way of  helping each other, you can offer someone advice on design or technologies for example and perhaps gain advice or help on funding or mentorship. There are so many ways to ‘match’

At the live event in Ghana,  lots of matches were made, for example: a man working on biocarburant found a mentor to further develop his business model, an inventor needing AutoCad skills was linked with the FabLab in Ghana, a shea butter maker was linked with a fabricator for a new machine to do same, a local children’s community organisation was linked to FM radio sender makers and  a Ugandan man was linked to a mentor for developing his bicycle driven medical care service.

Now we want to continue this momentum online. So see if you can help ‘match’ people to take inventing and making to the next step.
We are also working on a fully fledged platform to support the same types of matching but then globally. We envisage liking this to a ‘Whuffie‘ type approach to reward people who match others. You can help us design and build this full platform, if you have suggestion are are willing to volunteer time to get this platform up,  running and connected please mail us

Patrica Temma Bio and friend - Emer's match @makerfairafrica

GO Logo

This is some exciting news, and a great example of how Maker Faire Africa seeks to spur ongoing invention and innovation activities in Africa.

The GO Ingenuity Award (GIA) – which aims to share the excitement of invention and innovation with youth - will launch at Maker Faire Africa in Accra in the middle of August. The GIA will be awarded to artists, inventors, and small business entrepreneurs as an incentive to stimulate their interaction with and inspire the next generation of “makers.”

Aiming to build on the momentum of Maker Faire Africa, the GO Campaign has announced that it will award one-year, one-time fellowship grants to individual applicants who are eager to share their skills with marginalized youth in developing countries in ways that educate and inspire youth to harness their own ingenuity. The GIA emphasizes the sharing of innovative artistry and technology in informal, hands-on learning workshops in places where youth already gather.

GO Campaign is dedicated to empowering orphans and vulnerable children throughout the world to secure a better future. GO is a youth-driven nonprofit that cuts out the red tape and provides a direct connection to deserving grass-roots organizations serving children in need. To learn more about the GO Ingenuity Award, visit the GO Campaign website.