Denis Opudo
The toughest and decisive stage of any startup is the early stage. This is the stage that needs much funding and also calls for good decision making otherwise the startup might collapse at any time. It is not only about funding, but also the whole ecosystem must offer a good environment. This is meant to help startups attract funding. This is exactly what was discussed at the Africa Tech Summit Kigali. The summit took place between 18th and 23rd February 2018. It brought together more than 430 delegates from 29 countries.
The attendants took their time to talk about the investor’s landscape in Africa from seed to scale. They agreed that the continent has good funding coming into the continent. But there are still many challenges that need attention. This is so as to channel more strong funding landscape. Much attention went to the issue of international versus local participation in the investment scene. The issue was handled in two different angles.
Most of the African startups get funding but the founders are not Africans. This was according to Stephen Gugu, founder, and director of Viktoria Ventures. Therefore the growth of African startups is affected. This is because of the urge to wait for funding before starting up the startup. This creates a vicious cycle since lack of evidence does not attract investors. This was according to Martin Karanja, the senior market engagement manager at the GSMA Ecosystem Accelerator. There was also a talk about international involvement from investor’s side. Collins Onuegbu, director of the Lagos Angels Network. Early stage capital should come from local investors who have knowledge about the local ecosystem. This was an idea by the director of the Lagos Angels Network, Collins Onuegbu.
The African investment market is still in its early stage to be exclusive. There is a need for new local investors into the ecosystem. This can only be achieved through supporting co-investment. The panelist collectively agreed that there is still a lot to be done to support startups in preparing to receive funding at the right time.
