‘I hope this book will be of value to those wanting to make a difference, or be the difference, in solving many challenges faced by our world today, and in developing new products and services to create new market opportunities for a better world.’

Nuts & Bolts is a book about hope; it is full of stories about real people and companies who are making a difference, with testimonies from entrepreneurs, experienced ecosystem builders and innovators. It captures deep insights, from the considerable time McLean has spent with entrepreneurs and innovators, on the importance of inclusive innovation and entrepreneurship, and provides a mix of global experiences and entrepreneurship narratives that eloquently sketch out the ‘nuts and bolts’ for entrepreneurship and innovation.

For the entrepreneur, the book provides insights into the operations of science parks and similar entities,
such as incubators and digital innovation labs. For the public officials, including policy makers, the book
contains incredible insights of the struggles of leaders in turning around public institutions.

The book deals with the following topics:

• Developing Innovation and Entrepreneurial Culture
• Repositioning of The Innovation Hub
• Incubation Fundamentals and Supporting Innovations in ICT Sector
• Building a Bioeconomy Cluster – The BioPark in Gauteng
• Supporting Green Economy Innovations – The Climate Innovation Centre
• Feeding the Incubation Pipeline through Innovation Competitions – The Gauteng Accelerator

Programme (GAP Awards):

• Funding the Gap – The Start-up Support Programme
• Towards Inclusive Innovation and Entrepreneurship
• Improving Competitiveness and Government Service Delivery
• Pan-African Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Contributors’ chapters:

• My Experience with The Innovation Hub – Paseka Lesolang
• Reflections on The Innovation Hub under the Leadership of Dr

McLean Sibanda – Mavis Thomani:

• A Pragmatic Approach to Innovation – Dr Nhlanhla Msomi
• Catalysing Innovation Across Africa: The Innovation Prize for Africa (IPA) – Pauline Koelbl

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dr McLean Sibanda (LLD, LLM Commercial Law, LLB, MSc (Eng.), BSc (Eng.)) is an accomplished C-suite executive, patent attorney, engineer and internationally respected innovation promoter with a 25-year career in engineering, infrastructure, intellectual property, innovation, entrepreneurship and related fields. McLean is currently the MD of Bigen Global Limited. Before joining Bigen in 2018, he was the CEO of The Innovation Hub (2011–2018), where he led its repositioning to focus on innovation. He was on the International Association of Science and Technology Parks (IASP) Executive Board as President of the Advisory Council and Africa Division President, and contributed to IASP’s global expertise and capacity development in Africa. Nuts & Bolts is his first book.

Nuts & Bolts: Strengthening Africa’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship Ecosystems is published by Tracey McDonald Publishers