First Co-Working Space for Afro-Brazilians Opens in Salvador

 
On November 21st Instituto Mídia Étnica opened a co-working space for young entrepreneurs in Salvador through its project Correio Nagô: Rede de Pequenos Negócios. The co-working space, which is the first in Brazil geared towards afro-brazilians, will provide courses and collaborative opportunities for young entrepreneurs, as well as encourage the afrobrazilian creative economy in a city with a difficult climate for startups.

The space was named “Ujamaa”, which means “cooperative economy” in Swahili. Paulo Rogério, Executive Director of IME, notes “The Ujamaa aims to be a driving force in creating a “Dendê Valley” (referring to Silicon Valley) – an ecosystem of businesses with a strong focus on the creative industries, media and technology.

Instituto Mídia Étnica carries out projects that guarantee access to communication and technology for socially excluded groups, especially the Afro-Brazilian community. With over 100,000 hits per month, the Correio Nagô project is one of the largest information portals for content on black culture.