Africa: these initiatives in favor of entrepreneurship

“Boost Africa” or “Alliance for Entrepreneurship in Africa”, many national or international initiatives complement each other to promote the emergence of a real entrepreneurial universe on the continent. At the same time, African startups are trying to make their merry way, succeeding in constantly increasing fundraising. The details.

Boost africa: 1 billion euros for entrepreneurship

Launched in 2016, “Boost Africa” is a joint initiative of the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the European Investment Bank. Its objective is to support young African entrepreneurs. For the AfDB, this is “one of the flagship initiatives of the Bank’s Strategy for Jobs for Youth in Africa, which aims to harness the continent’s potential and create opportunities on the ground”.

Boost Africa benefits from funding from partners such as the EU, which has already granted an envelope of 60 million euros. But, it is estimated that Boost Africa will leverage more than €1 billion in overall investments through additional funding provided by third-party public and private fund partners, as well as funding raised by end-recipients.

“Since its launch in November 2016, Boost Africa has helped support high impact investments made across the continent by venture capital partners located in Dakar, Abidjan, Nairobi, Lagos and Tunis”, welcome the partners of the ‘initiative.

The initiative has supported the rise of innovative African companies specializing in agribusiness, fintech, e-commerce and cybersecurity. Some 1,080 professional organizations and 3,267 business leaders from 32 African countries have thus benefited from this initiative in various forms.

Alliance for Entrepreneurship in Africa: focus on SMEs!

This is the latest of the major initiatives in favor of entrepreneurship in Africa that has just been launched. This is the “Alliance for Entrepreneurship in Africa”. It was launched last March by heavyweights in world finance: the African Development Bank (AfDB), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the European Investment Bank (EIB), the Association of European Development Finance Institutions (EDFI), the French Treasury, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Proparco, the branch of the French Development Agency (AFD) dedicated to the private sector.

This “Alliance for Entrepreneurship in Africa” aims to “support the private sector and the current entrepreneurial dynamic in Africa”. The Alliance emphasizes the development of VSEs/SMEs and African startups, vectors of growth, jobs and innovation.

In this regard, it should be noted that according to the World Bank, SMEs represent nearly 90% of businesses in sub-Saharan Africa and 38% of regional GDP. In addition to financing, the Alliance will support reforms aimed at improving the business and investment climate in Africa, and supporting the development of private sector initiatives in sustainable green and digital sectors.

Funding: Rise of African startups

They are a major indicator of the entrepreneurial dynamic on the continent. In 2021 alone, startups managed to raise encouraging amounts, with $5.2 billion. This attests to the interest of investors. For 2022, the platform specializing in tech, “Africa The Big Deal”, expects amounts of up to $ 7.3 billion in venture capital investments in African startups.

Since the Covid crisis, the health sector has been gaining momentum. The amount injected into health start-ups during 2020 is estimated at nearly 102 million euros. The field of renewable energies, for its part, received more than 150 million in investments, i.e. 3 times more than the previous year.

On the other hand, several African countries have invited themselves to the table of “startup nations” in recent years. It includes Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa. During 2017, South Africa received nearly $168 million in investments for 42 companies, while Kenya secured $82 million.

Abdellah Benahmed / ECO Inspirations