Search giant Google and mobile technology incubator the Praekelt Foundation have partnered to fund a Johannesburg innovation centre, dubbed JoziHub, which is planned to open next year.

Gustav Praekelt, founder of the Praekelt Foundation, has told ITWeb Africa that the hub is to be based in Johannesburg’s trendy 44 Stanley Avenue in Milpark, a district that has become synonymous with the city’s urban regeneration projects.

The hub is further planned to be a central meeting point for the city’s up-and-coming code developers.

“There’s a network of technology hubs in Africa as well as hubs in Cape Town but what always struck us the most was that there wasn’t a hub in the heart of Jozi,” Praekelt told ITWeb Africa.

“SA has vibrant technology sector with great technology companies but the one challenge facing the country is the entrepreneurial sector is not as developed as it should be.

“We hope that when young engineers and computer scientists finish their university degrees they can join the hub and connect with each other – the idea is not that they all create their own start-ups but have the space to connect and learn the ideas of a startup culture and economical innovation before they head out into big corporates,” Praekelt explained.

JoziHub joins a network of burgeoning technology centres in the country with four other hubs reported to be already operating in South Africa, according to crowdsourcing website, Africahubs.crowdmap.com.