NEWS
Ambitious innovation partnerships with African countries
A
series of ambitious innovation partnerships between the UK and
Africa are expected to stimulate significant economic growth
and support the creation of thousands of new jobs.
Initiatives in South
Africa, Kenya and
Nigeria will include
teams to boost
innovation in technology
The partnerships, announced by the Prime Minister as the UK
strengthens ties with the region, will be established in African
countries with growing tech sectors where there are young,
expanding populations with ideas and innovations developing at a
rapid pace.
Building on the UK’s already-strong investment in science and
research in Africa, the partnerships will enable UK and African
entrepreneurs to share skills and ideas and encourage future trade.
The increased engagement comes after the Department for
International Trade announced the appointment of a dedicated HM
Trade Commissioner to Africa. Emma Wade-Smith will now lead a
team which will provide expert in-country investment and export
advice for UK and African companies.
The tech sector is one of the fastest growing sectors in Africa. The
continent’s start-ups raised 50% more venture capital in 2017 than in
2016, and the majority of this is being invested in South Africa (£130
million), Kenya (£114 million) and Nigeria (£89 million).
Nigeria and Kenya’s technology sectors are also growing
rapidly and generate more than 10 and 11% of their respective
economic output.
IBM SA and Tshimologong Precinct launch
acceleration boot camp
IBM South Africa
launched a start-up
accelerator boot camp
I
BM South Africa, through its Equity
Equivalence Investment Programme
(EEIP) and together with Tshimologong
Digital Innovation Precinct, has launched a
start-up accelerator.
Designed to enable the development of
Growth Stage Tech and Digital Start-ups,
the boot camp format ran for more than
six weeks. Focusing on enablement and
development through a series of short,
10
intensive and rigorous modules, the boot
camp culminated in an investment proposal
and pitch, whereby the winning participants
stand in line to win up to R500k in required
products and services.
“Growing technology start-ups has
long been a focus of the Precinct and we
were pleased to partner with IBM SA to
further develop this vital segment of the
market,” said Shaun Randles, Enterprise
Development Manager, Tshimologong
Precinct. “The boot camp was centred on
investment, one of the critical elements of
any growing business.”
To win the investment, the tech start-ups
needed to demonstrate how it will be used
to accelerate the business and interested
participants needed to ensure the business
had a minimum of one-year trading as a CIPC
registered company.