Our solutions
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Start-ups
Start-ups
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SUPPORTING AFRICAN ENTREPRENEURS
AFD Group is convinced that start-ups play an essential role in developing innovative solutions that meet the needs of developing and emerging countries. They have real potential in terms of job creation and impacts on Africa’s development.
It is for this reason that AFD and PROPARCO combine financing, resources and their expertise to support African entrepreneurs and their entrepreneurial ecosystems.
Key figures
€65 M
committed to supporting African start-ups by 2022, in partnership with local partnersSee and/or download documents
Lynk transforms the informal sector in Kenya
With Andela, the best developers are also trained in Africa
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Our financing solutions
SEED FINANCING
The Digital Africa funds for start-ups at seed stage
- Through the Digital Africa initiative, AFD assists the most vulnerable digital start-ups which are setting out on their entrepreneurial adventure. Through this program, AFD is seeking to achieve two objectives: improve access to seed financing by offering a wide range of tools and allow entrepreneurs to move on to a further stage in the development of their project
- AFD works with 4 partners that are experts in supporting and financing digital innovation in Africa: the consortium made up of the African Business Angels Network (ABAN) and AfriLabs, the Greentec Capital Africa Foundation, the association Entrepreneurs & Développement, which draws on the capacities of the Investisseurs & Partenaires group, and the Mercy Corps Europe – Suguba consortium. Their field of action covers 45 countries.
VENTURE CAPITAL INVESTMENT
Via local partner funds
- PROPARCO and FISEA also support venture capital funds that invest in African start-ups and SMEs in the early and growth stages. Through local partner funds, start-ups can access equity financing and benefit from local expertise, knowledge and training to continue their development.
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If you are an entrepreneur looking for local investors, please contact directly our local partners.
VENTURE CAPITAL INVESTMENT
Direct investments by PROPARCO or FISEA
- PROPARCO has a team dedicated to equity financing for start-ups seeking to market the innovative solutions they have developed on a larger scale. The average amount of the investments allocated ranges between €500,000 and €3 million. They target companies with a track record of conclusive results, a renowned management team and with strong development ambitions. FISEA invests in start-ups at the seed or pre-Series A fundraising stage to complete a funding round allowing start-ups to set up in business. It can also subsequently participate in the following seed or pre-Series A fundraising for the investee start-ups.
PRE-SEED FUND
Fuzé Fund - Digital Africa
- Fuzé, an innovative investment facility to support start-ups deploying technological solutions for the real economy in Africa. With its tiered model, targeting pre-seed, through two successive tickets in the startup according to the stage of development, Fuzé is today a unique model on the continent
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Our support and advisory solutions
TECHNICAL AND STRATEGIC ASSISTANCE
Capacity building and advisory services
AFD Group is an active long-term partner, combining financing and technical and strategic assistance.
In addition to assisting with general business needs, PROPARCO can also provide targeted support to address the main challenges encountered by start-ups when they scale up. This support mainly targets start-ups financed by AFD Group via PROPARCO & FISEA and addresses the following issues:
- The strong need to structure and build the expertise of these companies in a hyper-growth phase (governance, HR structuring, retaining and attracting talent, implementation of management systems…),
- Intensive support for managers for growth management,
- Market consolidation and development (geographical expansion and product diversification).
AFRICAN INCUBATORS, ACCELERATORS AND HUBS
Supporting the development of local entrepreneurial ecosystems
- AFD supports structures that encourage innovation and entrepreneurship, such as incubators, accelerators and hubs, via capacity building and technical assistance programs. This support is provided via the Afric’Innov and AfriLabs programs.
- This mechanism is complementary to the AFIDBA (AFD for Inclusive & Digital Business in Africa) project which supports and finances incubators. The aim is to develop services to strengthen African start-ups with a digital dimension and impact in order to contribute to their scaling up.
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Consult the list below to see the local partner incubators and find out more about the services available (financing, mentoring, training, etc.)
SOCIAL AND INCLUSIVE BUSINESS CAMP
Acceleration programme for African entrepreneurs
- A programme that provides high social impact entrepreneurs in Africa with the springboard that they need to accelerate and scale-up their projects. The SIB Camp brings together a community of 60 African entrepreneurs to engage with experts, receive mentoring, work on concrete scaling-up solutions, share experiences, network, etc
- After being imagined and incubated by the AFD Campus du Développement, the SIBC will be piloted over the next three years by I&P Conseil and its partners – African Management Institute, ScaleChanger and StartupBRICS – to accelerate its deployment, particularly in Africa.
THE DIGITAL AFRICA INITIATIVE
Supporting digital innovation in Africa
- Digital Africa’s mission is to build the capacity of African tech and digital entrepreneurs to design and scale innovations for the real economy.
- Three pillars of intervention:
- Capacity building and direct technical assistance to digital start-ups with high impact potential
- Searching for and accessing funding in Africa and around the world to ensure the scaling up of African tech innovations
- Supporting public policies favorable to innovative digital entrepreneurs in Africa
AFD DIGITAL CHALLENGE
Competition for digital start-ups in Africa- The AFD Digital Challenge is an annual competition which rewards five to ten start-ups that have developed innovative solutions for Africa. They receive a EUR 20,000 award and a year of support to continue and implement their project.
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OUR EMBLEMATIC PROJECTS
Explore the map to discover some of the start-ups, venture capital funds and entrepreneurial structures that the AFD Group supports in Africa.
Our local partners
To find our venture capital fund and incubator partners closest to you, please select your location.
| wdt_ID | Name of partner | Partner type | Location | what financing/services are available ? | Eligible companies | Contact |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ABAN | Business angels network | Nigeria, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Egypt, Kenya, Algeria, Madagascar, Morocco, Senegal, Uganda, South Africa, Mauritius, Tunisia, Ghana, Chad, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, Botswana, Namibia, Gabon, Malawi, Gambia, Benin, Mali, Burkina Faso, Republic of Congo | Seed financing, mentoring | Start-ups tech | https://abanangels.org/ |
| 2 | Accion Quona Inclusion Fund | Venture capital Fund | Egypte, Kenya, Nigeria, Afrique du Nord | Financial services | Fintech startups and MSMEs | https://quona.com/ |
| 3 | Accion Venture Labs | Private Equity Funds | South Africa, Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Comoros, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Morocco, Mauritius, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Uganda, Rwanda, São Tomé and -Prince, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Chad, Togo, Tunisia, Zambia, Zimbabwe | Early stage investment 200 - $500K | Fintech Startup | https://www.accion.org/how-we-work/invest/accion-venture-lab |
| 4 | Afkar | Incubator | Tunisia | Support, co-working spaces, networking, etc. | Start-ups | https://afkar.co/ |
| 5 | AfriLabs | Incubator/Accelerator | Cameroon, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Côte d'Ivoire/ Ivory Coast, Benin, Burkina Faso, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo, Niger, Dijbouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mauritius, Rwanda, Somalia, Somaliland, Tanzania, Uganda, Burundi, Malawi, Madagascar, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Angola, Mozambique, Lesotho, Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia, Congo | Support, co-working spaces, networking, etc. | Start-ups tech | https://www.afrilabs.com/ |
| 6 | Agence d'encadrement et de développement des PME | Non-bank financial institution | Senegal | Financing, support, networking, etc. | SMEs and startups | https://adepme.sn/ |
| 8 | Association Entrepreneurs & Développement | Private Equity Funds | Sénégal, Côte d'Ivoire/ Ivory Coast, Madagascar, Burkina Faso, Niger, Cameroon, Ghana | Seed financing, technical support | Start-ups tech | http://www.ietp.com/fr |
| 9 | Bond’innov | Incubator | France,Africa | Support, financing, co-working spaces, networking, etc. | Innovative start-ups/SMEs (health, biotechnology, environment, etc.) | https://www.bondinnov.com/ |
| 10 | Carthage Business Angels (CBA) | Business angels network | Tunisia | Support, networking, etc. | Start-ups | http://www.cba.tn |
| 11 | Cathay Africinvest Innovation | Venture capital fund | Mali, Côte d'Ivoire / Ivory Coast, Ghana, Tunisia, Senegal, Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Nigeria, Guinea, Burkina Faso, North Africa | Financing in early stage and growth $1 à $10M | Startups | https://cathayinnovation.com |