“Stimulating innovation feels like a privilege to me”

When Toon left for Tanzania ten years ago as a bio-engineer and anthropologist, he had no idea how that experience would shape his career. Today, he heads Enabel’s Innovation Hub and manages a team of eleven people who are currently supporting 23 innovative solutions in their upscaling.

As a 29-year-old junior expert, Toon worked in Arusha, Tanzania. In the Maisha Bora project, a multidisciplinary initiative for food security, he focused on monitoring and evaluation. “I noticed that there was a lot of delay in the feedback we received and its processing. The project covered a vast area and involved partners who were spread out. Digitising data collection seemed like a plus for everyone involved. So we got to work with KoboToolbox.”

This system allowed feedback from livestock farmers and agricultural workers to be collected on tablets. Data collection officers were given tablets with which they could enter data, immediately visible to all partners via a shared dashboard. Thanks to the Junior Programme’s training budget, I took a course in Nairobi on digital M&E tracking and GIS (geographic information systems). I was able to put that knowledge into practice immediately.

My time on the project was very exciting, but also confronting. “After a year and a half, I had set up the system, trained the people and it was running well. Yet I felt there was little room for further growth within the project.” Toon returned to Belgium with his girlfriend, with new insights, but also doubts about the sometimes slow dynamics in the sector.

Broadening his horizons in the private sector

His next stop was the private sector: conducting market analyses for companies in the agro-industry. “I researched where companies could market their seeds or crop protection products. At first, it felt like a breath of fresh air: faster decision-making, more autonomy, less cumbersome processes.”

However, after two years, things started to feel a bit off. “The values no longer matched what I was looking for. But I did learn to be inventive and to achieve results within tight deadlines. I still draw on that experience today.”

From projects to system change: innovation as a driver

The return to Enabel meant a new start, first as an agricultural expert, later as an innovation expert. Today, Toon leads the Innovation Hub: four projects that focus on scaling up proven innovative solutions. Toon’s team sets up collaborations between diverse partners and explores creative business models to make innovations financially sustainable. “We are radically committed to affordable and scalable innovations. An expensive high-tech application that no one can afford has little impact.”

A striking example comes from the Democratic Republic of Congo. There, survivors of sexual violence often encounter barriers to filing complaints, including unreliable forensic evidence on paper. To address this, Physicians for Human Rights and HEAL Africa introduced MediCapt, an app that digitally records medical documentation and integrates photographs. This enables healthcare and legal professionals to work together more effectively, increasing survivors’ access to justice. Thanks to Enabel, the app has been rolled out to multiple locations and hundreds of police officers and healthcare providers have been trained.

Toon’s team is also making a difference in South Africa. Through the RTIA project, it supports the social enterprise Digify, which is developing an AI-driven learning platform via WhatsApp. This gives teachers, even in remote areas, easier access to further training and pedagogical support.

For Toon, leading such a team is a new challenge. “I am discovering how important authenticity is in leadership. My down-to-earth attitude sometimes clashes with the bureaucracy that comes with public funding, but my team compensates for that with other strengths. We are growing together and bringing out the best in each other.”

Recognising drive and ideas from outside the sector

“Living and working in Tanzania with my girlfriend was a unique experience. It broadened our world view. We met so many young people and entrepreneurs with wonderful ideas and the drive to change things. Unfortunately, they often remain under the radar. So if we as a project can contribute to that, instead of being stuck in the cliché of “aid for Africa”, then that is much more valuable and also simply necessary in 2025.”

Nevertheless, Toon remains critical: “Innovation is gaining ground, which is positive. However, governments often still resort to predictability, control and bulky processes. And that is precisely what stands in the way of the speed and flexibility that innovations require. Still, I believe in change from within. Just look at the journey we have made as an innovation team. Otherwise, I would not continue to work here.”