Africa is known as the motherland, the birth of mankind, where it all began. Yet for many years it has also been called the “dark continent” due to the rate of development of many countries. This perception is changing quickly, with hundreds of technology innovation hubs, who are creating cutting-edge technology products and services, popping up all over the continent, making the rest of the world sit up and take notice.

So first of all, what is a tech hub? A tech hub is an area of IT landscape by which people, sometimes from all over the world, come together and breed innovations. Hubs do not only host developers or coders but instead an array of people looking to take advantage of the ICT sector which is taking over world markets.

These Hubs have certain characteristics which set them apart. First of all, they are communal, bringing in people from all over to create a community. Hubs need to be self-organizing and adaptive, as it is a type of community were members need to put their heads together to ensure success, they do not run like a traditional business. Thirdly they need to enable innovators, hubs are not themselves creators or implementers of innovations (or projects, startups, apps, etc.). Instead, hubs see themselves as enablers of innovators and entrepreneurs.

In short tech hubs are breeding grounds providing innovators with the best possible platform to make their ideas a reality. In an African context, tech hubs are driving innovation on the continent. With an ever-growing number of hubs, a GSMA study revealed the number of tech hubs on the continent at 314 in 93 cities across 42 countries. Although the numbers from their study may have increased, it still provides a good base to see which African countries are leading the innovation race.

Here are the 9 African countries with the most tech hubs:

9) Senegal: This West African country has a total of 10 active tech hubs which sees it come in at number 9 on this list of African countries with the most tech hubs.

8) Uganda: Uganda is a landlocked East African country. With a total of 12 active tech hubs, Uganda is eighth on this list.

7) Tunisia: Located in North Africa, Tunisia comes in at number 7 on this list with a total of 15 active tech hubs.

6) Ghana: West African country Ghana has a total of 16 active tech hubs. These 16 hubs see the country ranked as number 6 on this list.

5) Morocco: Morocco, a North African country bordering the Atlantic Ocean the Mediterranean Sea Sea, has 21 active tech hubs in the country. These active hubs give Morocco the rating of number 5 in this list of African countries with the most tech hubs.

4) Nigeria: West African giants Nigeria has a total of 23 tech hubs. This total puts Nigeria in at number 4 on this list of African countries with the most tech hubs.

3) Kenya: East African country, Kenya, is known as one of the most innovative countries in Africa. With a total of 27 active tech hubs, Kenya is number 3 on this list.

2) Egypt: Located in North African, Egypt has a total of 28 active tech hubs which sees the country come in at number 2 on this list of African countries with the most tech hubs.

1) South Africa: Located at the Southern tip of the continent, South Africa is ranked as number 1 on this list. With a total of 54 active tech hubs, South Africa is leading the ICT revolution on the African continent.

By Dean Workman