The Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technologie (NM-AIST)

The Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology (NM-AIST) in Arusha is part of a network of pan-African science and technology institutions throughout sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), whose goal is to operationalize a 5D model with the following five key elements:

• Research and Innovation ;
• Post-graduate training and skills development
• Community outreach/engagement; Incubation management; and
• Incubation Management;
• Commercialization.

The Incubation Center strives to bring inventions and innovations to life, transforming them into viable commercial enterprises ready for market through licensing, assignments, NM-AIST spin-offs and joint ventures. This is guided by tools, strategies, and plans that provide technical development assistance to incubatees and inventors for incubation transformation in all phases of pre-incubation, incubation, and post-incubation. The center reviews potential ideas, inventions, innovations, minimum viable products (MVPs), and minimum viable systems/processes (MVS). It liaises with the Intellectual Property Management Office [IPMO] to ensure that all ideas, inventions, and innovations receive the required IP. 
The center operates under the Research and Innovation Directorate, and in close collaboration with institutional and external departments, it considers collaborations worldwide.