The World Bank Group has launched a five-month business acceleration program designed to support the 20 most promising digital start-ups from Sub-Saharan Africa.
The program announced on April 20 with support from prominent African investment groups will help the 20 selected start-ups receive mentoring from global and local experts, learn through a tailor-made curriculum, increase their regional visibility, and get access to potential corporate partners and investors and attract early stage capital between $250,000 and $1.5 million.
Maktar Diop, Vice President for the Africa Region at the World Bank said on the occasion that digital start-ups are important drivers of innovation in Africa. “To scale and spread new technologies and services beyond borders, they need an integrated ecosystem that provides access to regional markets and global finance; pan-African initiatives like XL Africa play a critical role by linking local start-ups with corporations and investors across the continent.”
The program comes at a time of increasing interest in the African digital sector. According to a recent report by Disrupt Africa, in 2016, the number of tech start-ups that secured funding increased by 16.8% compared to 2015.
The program’s flagship activity includes a two-week residency in Cape Town, South Africa, where the ventures will have the opportunity to interact with and learn from their mentors, peers, and local partners. The Cape Town residency will conclude with the Venture Showcase, a regional event in which the entrepreneurs will present their business models to a select audience of corporations and investors. The program will collaborate with prominent African investment groups, including the African Business Angel Network,ABAN, AngelHub Ventures, Goodwell Investments, Knife Capital, Thomson Reuters among others.
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