A new project which intends to strengthen the Senegalese tech startup ecosystem by improving its worldwide attractiveness and exposure has been launched by the French Embassy in Senegal and the General Delegation for Rapid Entrepreneurship of Women and Youth (Der/FJ) in collaboration with the French Public Investment Bank (Bpifrance) and the AFD Group (French Development Agency).
According to a news statement, the goal is to “create a collaborative spirit that can contribute to the building of an entrepreneurial, resilient, and inclusive ecosystem” capable of meeting the challenge of mobilizing financial resources.
“This project aims to support Senegal in its desire to become the hub of innovation and the digital economy of French-speaking Africa, to support the visibility of this ecosystem and its close connection to its international environment, particularly financial, a necessary condition to anchor its attractiveness and allow long-term sustainability of its dynamism,” the statement states.
Keeping this in mind, the project’s leaders will rely on four major axes. The first stage will be to federate the Senegalese IT ecosystem and raise its profile among African and European investor groups in order to simplify access to financing and new business prospects.
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Then, by designing their economic model, Senegalese startups, particularly those led by women, can boost their prospects of successful funding.
Support offers on funding files from Senegalese incubators and accelerators will also be structured. Similarly, the development of skills and the visibility of investor networks in Senegal, […], will be consolidated in order to strengthen their ability and degree of investment in young Senegalese start-ups.
Finally, through establishing specialized financing, the initiative intends to facilitate financing and co-investment for the development and scaling up of startups.
The document states that by the end of the project, Senegal’s innovation ecosystem will have technology centers and incubators with strengthened skills to effectively pursue their objective of promoting the development of start-ups in the country.
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The presence of networks of structured local investors with improved investment capacity will boost this ecosystem. There will also be increased investment and fundraising options for young, creative businesses.
Senegal France startups tech Senegal France startups tech
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer, who has several years of experience working in Africa’s burgeoning tech startup industry. He has closed multi-million dollar deals bordering on venture capital, private equity, intellectual property (trademark, patent or design, etc.), mergers and acquisitions, in countries such as in the Delaware, New York, UK, Singapore, British Virgin Islands, South Africa, Nigeria etc. He’s also a corporate governance and cross-border data privacy and tax expert.
As an award-winning writer and researcher, he is passionate about telling the African startup story, and is one of the continent’s pioneers in this regard. You can book a session and speak with him using the link: https://insightsbyexperts.com/view_expert/charles-rapulu-udoh