Just as almost everywhere else in the world, 3D printing offers the possibility of revolutionizing entire industries. In Africa, the 3D printer could bring a new industrial revolution, allowing goods to be made with less dependence on imported commodities, at a cheaper rate, and creating jobs locally. For the past three years, in Lomé, the capital of Togo, members of a small and innovative community have been building 3D printers. The machines are now part of an ambitious education program.

In Lomé, piles of discarded computers, printers and scanners from industrialized countries accumulate in trash dumps. Afate Gnikou, a system’s developer, has found a place to work on his invention in a group of like-minded computer-lovers. It is called WoeLab; enjoy. BBC also did a video about it.