The African Development Bank (AfDB) has announced the approval of €10.5 million in investment funds to support African tech entrepreneurs through the Janngo Start-Up Fund.

The funds include €7 million from the AfDB and a €3.5 million contribution from the European Union and the Organization of African, Caribbean and Pacific States.

The fund, managed by Janngo Capital, supports innovation with a focus on social impact. Investments span across sectors including agribusiness, energy, education, and healthcare, primarily in Francophone West Africa. The Janngo headquarters are located in Côte d’Ivoire and Paris.

“Africa is experiencing rapid mobile penetration with Android and other platforms. This provides huge opportunities to develop innovative and high-growth-driven start-ups and SMEs,” said Stefan Nalletamby, the AfDB Director for Financial Sector Development.

“But there is a severe scarcity of risk capital for the new and upcoming first generation of venture capital funds targeting early-stage businesses.”

With its focus on the future, the Janngo Start-Up Fund hopes to create jobs for youth and women through small and medium-sized businesses. It has a target for creating 900 million jobs through 2030.

Janngo CEO Fatoumata BA has said that with 2.2 billion people in Africa by 2050, there needs to be an accelerated plan to create jobs and boost quality of life.

The new investment fund is the latest step for the Boost Africa Program, a collaboration of the AfDB, the European Investment Bank and their partners. It targets early-stage start-ups in sub-Saharan Africa.

Image: AfDB Boost Africa file