Denis Opudo
Partech Venture is aiming to become the largest venture-capital fund in Sub-Saharan Africa. It launched €100 million funding for improvement of digital technology startups. Partech Africa fund is for the African countries. However, eight countries have the strongest need for venture capital. The countries are Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Senegal, Nigeria, Cameroon, Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire.
There are more than €57 million secured by the funds already. It will offer early-growth fundings. This will be of amount worth €500,000 to €5 million. The beneficiaries will be startups in many sectors. They will comprise of mobile, financial and health technologies. The operational initiative team will be able to carry out 70 transactions within a year.
According to Tidjane Dème, General Partner for Partech Africa, the company’s global partners will link African startups to European and US markets. Besides, the same role will be played by the dedicated business development team. The linking will ensure long-term commercial contracts and long-term strategic partnership. IFC has also partnered with the firm to ensure economic growth in the region. IFC is a member of the World Bank Group. The partnership will help improve the ongoing digital transformation in the region.
IFC has invested equity capital worth €15 million. That makes it the highest investor in the Partech African fund. IFC is having its first investment in a mainstream venture capital fund in sub-Saharan Africa. Startups in the technology sectors within Africa often experience funding problems. This affects their growth in the region. Other investors in the fund include JCDecaux Holding and Averro`es Finance III. There are also European Investment Bank and Edenred as investment partners.
The sector is important when it comes to economic growth and development in Africa. According to McKinsey Global Institute, it is projected that the digital technology will contribute $300 billion to the African GDP by 2025. The technology will help in using the untapped entrepreneurial skills in the region. The young African population will be important in attaining the goals.
