8 ORGANIZATIONS THAT PROVIDE CAPITAL FOR YOUR BUSINESS IN AFRICA

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.
In 2014, Seedstars invested $330,000 in SimplePay, a young Nigerian third-party payment processing company that created a solution to disrupt payment services in Nigeria and Africa, find more details on find on https://www.seedstarsworld.com/event/seedstars-africa

2.    African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF)

  This is a grant making foundation that supports local, national and regional women’s organizations working towards the empowerment of African women and the promotion and realization of their rights.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. More details  find them at http://awdf.org/

3.  Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Program:  The Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme is the flagship entrepreneurship programme of the Tony Elumelu Foundation, founded by the entrepreneur, respected investor and philanthropist Tony O. Elumelu. 

The pan-African programme is inspired by the Founder’s:

• Inclusive economic philosophy of Africapitalism, based on the belief that a vibrant African-led private sector is the key to unlocking Africa’s economic and social potential,
• Commitment to drive African economic growth through the fostering of African entrepreneurship,
• Mission to institutionalise luck and create an environment where home-grown pan-African companies in various sectors can flourish.

Each successful participant in the program gets an initial seed investment of $5,000 after a 12 –week mentoring program. Another $5,000, structured as equity or an affordable loan, is also given to participants who meet certain milestones.
Over the next 10 years, the fund expects to support 10,000 start-ups and young businesses selected from across Africa who 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. Follow the link below :http://tonyelumelufoundation.org/

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).
 Their mission is to support the building of businesses throughout Africa and South Asia, to create jobs and make a lasting difference to people’s lives in some of the world’s poorest places.
Their aim is to invest in countries where they can have the greatest impact. In countries where the private sector is weak and jobs are scarce.
Investment  based in sectors where growth leads to jobs – both directly and indirectly. In sectors such as manufacturing, agribusiness, infrastructure, financial institutions, construction, health and education. Last year, the businesses they invest in created more than a million jobs. .More details www.cdcgroup.com/

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.Currently the U.S. African Development Foundation invites proposals for grant financing and local support, from African enterprises, cooperatives, and producer groups with innovative solutions that extend their own capabilities to increase revenues, create jobs, improve farmer incomes, and achieve sustainable market-based growth.Maximum award US $250,000 Proposals will only be accepted from registered agricultural cooperatives, small-scale producer groups, and agricultural processor, find them via this link http://www.usadf.gov/apply/

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.Currently there various courses offered apart from loan, more details find them via:https://acumen.org/

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.find more details on http://www.88mph.ac/

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.

 Kinnevik is an industry focused investment company with an entrepreneurial spirit. Our purpose is to build the digital consumer businesses that provide more and better choice. This is done by working in partnership with talented founders and management teams to create, invest in and lead fast growing businesses in developed and emerging markets.They believe on delivering both shareholder and social value by building well governed companies that contribute positively to society.

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.Find them via https://www.kinnevik.com