Measuring contribution to development: impact indicators for African makerspaces

Serving as drivers of local innovation, makerspaces in Africa are bridging the gap between theoretical education and practical, hands-on problem-solving by providing opportunities to empower human capital, boost entrepreneurship in local economies, and promote community-centred solutions to local problems. In light of increasing pressure from policymakers and funders for evidence demonstrating community impact, establishing a shared framework of key performance indicators against which African makerspaces can measure success has become increasingly critical. Using an inductive process, a qualitative study was conducted with makerspaces in Ghana, Kenya, and South Africa. This enabled the identification of a set of empirically-derived impact indicators, which can be used as a framework for measuring the success of their spaces, programs, and services. This paper provides an outline of the research process and capacity-building activities, and the resulting indicator framework for measuring impact in African makerspaces.