Get Funded! 8 Organisations That Can Give You Capital To Start and Grow Your Business in Africa

Get Funded! 8
Organisations That Can
Give You Capital To Start
and Grow Your Business
in Africa
Written by smallstarter ThinkTank
Wednesday, 21 January 2015 20:58
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Are you looking for capital to start a new business or
grow an already established company in Africa? Have
you tried other alternatives and sources of funding
but failed? Is capital your biggest headache and
obstacle right now? Smile, we’ve got good news for
you.
As part of the research for our new book, 101 Ways To
Make Money in Africa , Dr. Harnet Bokrezion and I
have put together the largest and most detailed
information on 50 Organisations that focus on and
provide millions of dollars of funding to
entrepreneurs and businesses in Africa every year.
The problem is, not many people know about this.
Whether you’re looking for a grant, loan or
investment in your business idea or company, you
will surely find several organisations within this list
that are willing to help you. However, it’s not
automatic. There are a couple of things you’ll need to
know in order to successfully apply and get the
funding you want from these organisations. All of
these are covered in the book.
Let’s meet these amazing organisations…
1. Seedstars Africa
Seedstars Africa is a member of Seedstars Group, a Swiss-based
venture builder that is active and invests in 35+ countries around
the world especially in emerging markets in Asia, South America,
The Middle East and Africa.
Through Seedstars World, its popular, highly competitive and
exclusive startup competition for startups in emerging markets, the
company is able to identify promising companies to support with
capital and technical help.
Seedstars recently invested $330,000 in SimplePay, a young
Nigerian third-party payment processing company that has created
a solution which will likely disrupt payment services in Nigeria and
Africa.
2. African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF)
The AWDF is the first pan-African women’s grant maker in Africa.
Since the start of its operations in 2001, AWDF has provided $17
million in grants to 800 women’s organizations in 42 African
countries.
The AWDF is an institutional capacity-building and programme
development fund, which aims to help build a culture of learning
and partnerships within the African women’s movement. In
addition to raising money and awarding grants, the AWDF will
attempt to strengthen the organisational capacities of its grantees.
The AWDF only awards grants to organisations, not individuals. It
awards grants ranging from $8,000 up to $50,000.
3. Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship
Program
The recently launched $100 million Tony Elumelu Foundation
Entrepreneurship Programme (TEEP) is an annual programme of
training, funding and mentoring, designed to empower the next
generation of African entrepreneurs.
Founded by Mr. Tony Elumelu, the successful Nigerian
entrepreneur and philanthropist, the fund seeks to identify and
support 1,000 entrepreneurs from across the continent each year
over the next decade.
The fund expects that the 10,000 start-ups and young businesses
selected from across Africa will ultimately create one million new
jobs and add $10 billion in annual revenues to Africa’s economy.
The TEEP Fund focuses on citizens and legal residents of all 54
African countries. Applications can be made by any for-profit
business based in Africa in existence for less than three years,
including new business ideas.
4. CDC
Founded in 1948, CDC is the UK’s Development Finance Institution
(DFI) wholly owned by the UK Government’s Department for
International Development (DFID). It is the world’s oldest DFI with
a history of making successful investments in businesses which
have become industry leaders.
CDC actively supports businesses throughout Africa and South
Asia, and its portfolio of investments is valued at over £2.5bn
(year end 2013).
In November 2013, CDC announced a US$18.1m investment into
Feronia, an agricultural production and processing business
focused on palm oil plantations and arable farming in the
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
5 African Development Foundation (ADF)
The African Development Foundation (ADF) is an independent
Federal agency of the United States government that was
established to support African-led development that grows
community enterprises by providing seed capital and technical
support.
USADF connects community enterprises with capital and technical
support. It helps organizations and businesses in Africa to create
and sustain jobs, improve income levels, achieve greater food
security, and address human development needs.
In 2014 alone, the USADF gave out 336 grants worth over $50
million and impacted over 1.3 million people in Africa.
6. Acumen Fund
Acumen is a charity organisation incorporated in 2001 with seed
capital from the Rockefeller Foundation, Cisco Systems Foundation
and three individual philanthropists. The Acumen Fund invests in
entrepreneurs who have the capability to bring sustainable
solutions to big problems.
In May 2014, The Acumen Fund co-invested $1.5 million in Esoko
Networks Limited (“Esoko”), a Ghanaian-built technology platform
that connects African farmers to markets via mobile phones.
In October 2014, Acumen announced a $1.4 million investment in
SolarNow, a company that sells and finances solar home systems
in Uganda.
7. 88mph
88mph is a Seed Fund and Accelerator that started in 2011 and
currently operates out of hubs in Nairobi (Kenya), Cape Town
(South Africa), and Lagos (Nigeria).
88mph funds only tech companies, with a particular emphasis on
web and mobile products and services. It currently has more than
$1.5 million in funds for investment in African tech startups.
Some of its successful investments include:
Baby Group - South Africa's first online shop for new parents and
their babies.
Byte Money – A mobile payment platform for the insurance
industry
Ekaya – A service that matches good landlords with good tenants
Its main focus is to attract the best entrepreneurs, invest seed
cash, and bring them to a point where their businesses can grow
independently, or be adequately evaluated by angels and Venture
Capital firms.
8. Investment AB Kinnevik
Based in Sweden, Investment AB Kinnevik was founded in 1936
and is one of the largest listed investment companies in Europe
with total assets of $7 billion.
Over the past few years, the firm has invested significantly in
businesses in Africa. Some of its most notable investments on
the continent include: Millicom, Tele2, Jumia, MTG, Rocket
Internet, Iroko Partners and several others.
AB Kinnevik is a major investor in emerging markets. As a result,
about 8 percent of its portfolio consists of African businesses. It
invests and focuses on entrepreneurs and businesses in the
following business segments: Communications, Ecommerce &
Marketplaces, Entertainment and Financial Services & Others.