GE 'Garages' inspire innovation in Nigeria

‘The Garages series’ is a global entrepreneurship, creation, innovation and manufacturing initiave founded in America in 2012 by the General Electric Group (GE), in the hopes of reviving America’s interest in innovation.

The 2015 series in Lagos, Nigeria, is an upgrade of the success recorded in the 2014 edition. The GE Garage in Lagos is a unique programme which is a step away from the usual incubators or accelerator programmes. The GE Garage is said to be more like an open 'Fab lab', according to their website.

With this concept in mind, the Garage has been strategically implemented to increase employability of the local Nigerian workforce.  With GE employees planted at the Garage, the main objective is to train and help anyone with a product, idea or entrepreneurial mind.

Where most accelerator programmes provide monetary assistance to entrepreneurial start ups, the GE Garage equips the entrepreneurs with unparalleled skills which include leadership development, software programming and market related business planning and strategy. On a more specific note, the Garage strives to encourage awareness and education on entrepreneurship via technology, hardware and software innovations.

Being the first Garage project to expand outside of America, the Garage Nigeria program will act as a model from which replicas can be created in emerging markets around the world. Through this expansion, GE Garages aims to create a network of mentors, coaches and teachers that will team together to improve the future of the Power Generation and Healthcare across the entire African continent.

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