The Senegalese General Delegation for the Acceleration of Entrepreneurship for Women and Young People (DER) has signed a partnership agreement with GreenTec Capital Partners, one of the leading German investors into African startups
The purpose of the agreement is the foundation of the first regional Venture Building Centre in Africa to tackle investment challenges by providing investment tickets between US$11134.30 and US$556715.00 for entrepreneurs at the cusp of their growth stages.
The needs of startups, MSMEs and SMEs in Africa revolve around a balanced combination of financing and operational support.
The agreement was signed by the minister delegate for entrepreneurship Papa Amadou Sarr and the CEO and co-founder of the German investment company GreenTec Capital Partners Erick Yong, joining the mutual ambitions of the two entities to the benefit of young Senegalese entrepreneurs by:
· Providing financing of the digital sector
· Strengthening the operational capacities of startups
· Setting up a common infrastructure to enable startups to develop sustainably
The joint initiative is set to further enable entrepreneurs with high potential to get better access the support they need to grow. Accessing support in the form of personalised operational assistance will create value for entrepreneurs who have matured past the phase in which incubators and accelerators have added value. This will help to further improve the quality of startups and improve their chances of success.
The collaboration between the Republic of Senegal and GreenTec Capital Partners coincides with the ambitions of the French initiative Digital Africa led by Karim Sy who has guaranteed to lend the full support of the French initiative to this new ecosystem building centre.
In 2019, the DER aims to support more than 150 digital startups and SMEs, by investing more than US$11.13mn, while supporting an additional 20 startups with the GreenTec Capital venture-building model.
