Oxford Hosts Pioneering Africa Venture Capital Summit to Drive Tech Innovation and Gender Diversity

Oxford Hosts Pioneering Africa Venture Capital Summit to Drive Tech Innovation and Gender Diversity

(IN BRIEF) The Africa Venture Finance Programme (AVFP) will take place at Oxford University’s Saïd Business School from September 9 to 13, 2024. This event will bring together 44 leading African and Africa-focused venture capital fund managers to advance the continent’s technology sector. The programme, supported by Boost Africa and the AfricaGrow Technical Assistance Facility, aims to equip fund managers with insights and strategies to drive innovation and address Africa’s unique challenges. Notably, half of the attendees are women, reflecting a commitment to increasing gender diversity in venture capital. Participants will also engage with global experts and development banks to enhance collaboration and investment opportunities.

(PRESS RELEASE) LUXEMBOURG, 5-Sep-2024 — /EuropaWire/ — In a landmark event for Africa’s burgeoning technology sector, Oxford University’s Saïd Business School will welcome 44 of Africa’s foremost venture capital fund managers from September 9 to 13, 2024. This high-profile gathering, known as the Africa Venture Finance Programme (AVFP), is set to foster innovation and collaboration among leading figures in African venture capital.

The AVFP, supported by the European Union’s Boost Africa initiative and the AfricaGrow Technical Assistance Facility funded by Germany’s BMZ through KfW, will unite top fund managers from across 33 African venture capital funds. This year’s participants include prominent firms such as Partech, AfricInvest, TLcom, Norssken, and Speedinvest, with a noteworthy emphasis on gender diversity, as 50% of the attendees are women.

The programme aims to enhance the capabilities of African venture capitalists, equipping them with advanced strategies and insights to navigate and invest in Africa’s rapidly evolving tech landscape. Discussions will focus on identifying innovative solutions to address the continent’s unique challenges and accelerating the growth of the tech sector.

EIB Vice-President Ambroise Fayolle highlighted the significance of the event: “The European Investment Bank is dedicated to supporting transformative technology and ventures that tackle global challenges. Boost Africa’s role in nurturing a robust VC ecosystem is crucial in turning African entrepreneurial visions into impactful realities.”

Oxford Programme Director Aunnie Patton Power praised the initiative: “The African Venture Finance Programme embodies the impactful educational experiences we aim to offer. Our deep connections with Africa enable us to support emerging leaders and drive growth in the technology sector.”

Martin Ewald, Lead Portfolio Manager Impact Investments at Allianz Global Investors, underscored the program’s impact: “AfricaGrow is committed to enhancing private capital flows into Africa’s venture capital space. This programme provides a vital platform for knowledge exchange, networking, and partnership building.”

Attendees will engage with a range of experts, including distinguished African investors like Khaled Ben Jilani from AfricInvest, Keet van Zyl from Knife Capital, and Ido Sum from TLcom. They will also interact with representatives from global development banks and international organizations such as the IFC, EBRD, BII, FMO, and Proparco.

Additionally, the Alliance for Entrepreneurship in Africa and the IYBA initiative will host a workshop aimed at improving coordination between investment programmes and technology ventures across the continent.

The AVFP at Oxford Saïd Business School represents a significant milestone in strengthening Africa’s venture capital ecosystem and advancing the continent’s tech innovation landscape.

For more information, please visit Saïd Business School’s Africa Venture Finance Programme.

About Boost Africa:
Boost Africa is an EU-supported initiative designed to catalyze the growth of Africa’s venture capital ecosystem by providing funding and technical assistance.

About AfricaGrow:
AfricaGrow is financed by Germany’s BMZ through KfW and focuses on empowering African venture funds through investment and technical support.

About Boost Africa

Boost Africa is a joint initiative between the European Investment Bank and the African Development Bank (AfDB) to enable and enhance entrepreneurship and innovation across Africa in a commercially viable way. It addresses a current gap in the African market by providing early-stage venture capital paired with skills development.

Boost Africa focuses on financial intermediaries investing in innovative business models and start-ups developing digital solutions across various sectors including, inter alia, information and communication technologies (ICT), healthcare, climate mitigation and adaptation, education, financial services, and manufacturing sectors. There is a particular emphasis on financial intermediaries focusing on youth and women and on sectors where innovation can improve the quality of people’s lives, in particular for lower-income households.

Boost Africa Technical Assistance Facility, part of the broader Boost Africa programme, provides bespoke support to strengthen the core professional and operational skills of partner fund managers and their investees to realise growth potential among innovative tech start-ups and high growth SMEs in Africa. The Facility is funded by the European Commission and the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States, through the 11th European Development Fund. The funding is managed by the European Investment Bank (EIB) and implemented by Adam Smith Europe, part of the Adam Smith International Group.

About AfricaGrow

The AfricaGrow Fund of Funds is a blended finance vehicle managed by Allianz Global Investors and serves as a catalyst for private capital into Africa by providing a de-risked capital structure for institutional investors, fostering indirect investments into African Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and start-ups via local Private Equity and Venture Capital fund investments. Its LPs are DEG, KfW – on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and Allianz insurance companies.

As a legally independent entity, AfricaGrow is a central instrument of the Compact with Africa (CwA) initiative, which was launched in 2017 under the 50 German G20 presidency. The Technical Assistance Facility is funded by the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) through KfW, while the fund is managed by Allianz Global Investors and advised by DEG Impact GmbH.

About the EIB

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the long-term lending institution of the European Union owned by its Member States. It makes long-term finance available for sound investment in order to contribute towards EU policy goals.

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SOURCE: European Investment Bank