Common Desk > BlogEvents

International Coworking Week World Tour: Senegal

 - August 7, 2014
aW1nL2hlcm9lcy9JbnRlcm5hdGlvbmFsQ293b3JraW5nU2VuZWdhbC5qcGc=

Africa coworking is also on the rise. Today we take a trip to the northwest coast of Africa to visit a network of Senegal coworking spaces focused on social change.

JokkoLabs, as the logo suggests, is a coworking space dedicated to supporting innovators and entrepreneurs working for social change. In point of fact, it is actually a network of six such spaces: three in Senegal and one each in Mali, Burkina Faso, and France. It is also a nonprofit organization, which describes itself as “an open innovation ecosystem and a virtual cluster for a social change based on an organic entrepreneur community and a network of innovation centers.” If that doesn’t get you on board, check out their mission statement: “[To] Inspire and develop a community of collaborative entrepreneurs to invent the future for a shared prosperity.”

The organization was founded almost five years ago in Dakar, Senegal’s capital city, where opened its first coworking space, JokkoSpace, in 2010 (apparently the first of its kind in French-speaking Africa). It has since grown into a global community of volunteers and professionals from a wide variety of backgrounds, all pursuing innovative projects in health, education, agriculture, open technology, media and governance. Their focus? How creative economy can generate a greener and more inclusive growth. They describe themselves as an “action tank”, finding innovative approaches to using information technology to respond to modern socio-economic issues.

The space in Dakar now hosts about 15 start-up companies as well as a menagerie of micro-enterprises, self-employed individuals, home workers, entrepreneurs, workers in the digital economy, writers, designers and other professionals in new media and digital arts. In the last few years, tech events like Start-up Weekend and Mobile Monday have been held for the first time in West Africa and tech collaboratives and work spaces are starting to pop up throughout the region, often connected to spaces in other parts of Africa as well. It seems that JokkoLabs has started something. And from the looks of it, it won’t be stopping anytime soon.

Globe image courtesy of wikimedia Accomplishments screen clipping taken from JokkoLabs website

Common Desk

Common Desk isn’t just a coworking space; it’s a tight-knit community of game-changers, difference-makers, and global influencers.

Common Desk isn’t just a coworking space; it’s a tight-knit community of game-changers, difference-makers, and global influencers.
Common Desk Author
Blog Author Avatar

Stories, news, & updates

Follow along to stay in the know of what’s going on in the Common Desk world and coworking industry.
black-owned-businesses-feature-photo
Community, Highlight

Spotlighting Black-Owned Businesses at Common Desk

Common Desk spaces serve as a launchpad for many small businesses to do big work, and we’re excited to feature…
Read More
4253_210112_CommonDesk (1)
Highlight, Resource

What We’re Reading: Common Desk’s Guide to National Reading Month

Let’s play a guessing game. We’re thinking about something we all do every day, likely without thinking twice about it…
Read More
CD-TPP-Main-Shared-Space
News, Resource

Common Desk’s Newest Coworking Location is Open in San Antonio at Travis Park Plaza

San Antonio, We Made It! Common Desk is open in San Antonio! After months of cooking up coworking paradise behind…
Read More
2Q4A0381 (1)
Community, Highlight

Location Spotlight: Fort Worth

If you’re familiar with us, you know we got our start delivering exceptional coworking spaces in Dallas in 2012. Since…
Read More
Common Desk Wilmington-7
Resource

Labor and Rest with Common Desk

There’s nothing like Labor Day weekend to mark the approaching end of summer—kids are back in school, the weather (might)…
Read More
Common-Desk-West-Plano-02162018-1-scaled
Resource

6 Ways to Protect Your Online Workspaces From Anywhere

Since the global coronavirus pandemic, remote work has become increasingly popular and given rise to another professional phenomenon: the digital…
Read More

Book a Tour

Join our Newsletter