For years, the global faith-based practitioner and entrepreneur of Jamaican and Nigerian descent has been a powerful force. He has been a dot connector and best-kept secret for those seeking to build relationships and navigate the African and Caribbean faith-based, political and business worlds. Faith has always been a cornerstone of these societies, and Dr. Dike navigates that space effortlessly.

An alum of Howard University, the University of the West Indies and the United Theological College of the West Indies, he is tapped whenever the U.S., African or Caribbean governments wish to engage each other from a faith perspective. Over the last 10 years he has partnered with the White House faith-based cabinet offices regarding immigration, criminal justice reform, education, disaster relief, religious persecution, internally displaced people, and global health priorities.

Dr. Dike and the CAFBLC create opportunities and premier events that convene kings, elected officials, national civic and faith leaders, corporate leaders, and stakeholders. Throughout the year, he invites prominent figures and advocates alike to Washington, D.C. to meet with the Presidential administration.

“My organization works in partnership with 14 faith-based cabinet offices in the U.S. government, and we bring outstanding foreign dignitaries to the table to engage the government and create linkages between faith-based leadership across the globe. It is a monumental achievement to facilitate networks and mission partnerships with them, he said.”

CAFBLC is linked with leaders serving thousands of churches with millions of members spanning the United States, Africa, the Caribbean, United Kingdom and Asia. As an interfaith leader, his fellowships include Christian, Islamic, Jewish, African and Caribbean indigenous religions.

These connections have allowed him to identify change-makers who have exemplified excellence in the areas of transformational leadership, economic development and volunteerism.

“We issue the Global Humanitarian Leadership Award and certify the U.S. President’s Lifetime Achievement Award for members, among others of our community, and those who positively impact our constituency – the African diaspora,” said Dr. Dike. “This year, we have a prestigious roster of recipients who will receive their awards signed by President Joe Biden himself.”

The honorees will be presented with their awards during the 9th Annual Caribbean and Faith Based Leadership Conference & Awards Gala scheduled for September 29 – October 1, 2022 in Washington, D.C. The lavish event will run during the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s 51st Annual Legislative Conference.

Dr. Dike describes the affair as a way to champion the extraordinary work and volunteerism of the Presidential Award recipients by honoring them and allowing them to speak on panels. Additionally, it fosters learning, networking, partnerships, and serves as a gateway for people who desire to connect with the African and Caribbean communities.

“There is no other organization like this in the world, and we are happy to bring this kind of value on such a historic level,” he said.

Dr. Dike’s speaking tour garners worldwide invitations from global leaders, premier conferences, churches and educational institutions.

The post Rev. Dr. Agorom Dike Unites America, Africa and the Caribbean Through Faith-Based Partnerships appeared first on Grit Daily News.

The funding round, the largest for any cryptocurrency exchange in Africa, was co-led by Valar Ventures, Third Prime, and Castle Island Ventures. Other influential firms like Square Inc, Blockchain.com Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, Polychain Capital, BlockFi, Fabric Ventures, Raba Partnership, MoonPay, and GreenHouse Capital also participated. James Fitzgerald, Founding Partner at Valar Ventures, referred to the firm’s participation by stating:

“Africa is poised to benefit tremendously from cryptocurrency’s potential to transform financial services. We believe in Yellow Card’s vision of a Pan-African cryptocurrency platform. What cemented the deal is their multi-national team, which we believe has the local knowledge, technical expertise, and unequivocal passion to address the basic financial services needs of the continent.”

The startup launched its exchange with the mission to open the world of crypto to millions of people in Africa. Since its founding in 2019, the startup has seen its team grow to 110 employees across 16 countries, expanding its presence to more than 12 countries in the African region, and growing its user base by nearly 30x since the start of the Covid19 pandemic. Chris Maurice, co-founder and CEO of Yellow Card, said about the startup’s mission:

“Our mission has always been to make cryptocurrency accessible anywhere and everywhere across the African continent. Now, we have the backing to make that a reality, alongside an amazing team of investors who share our vision.”

As the crypto industry continues to grow worldwide, emerging economies have seen an increasing demand for digital currencies and the services they offer. A recent report by Chainalysis listed 6 African nations among the top 20 economies adopting cryptocurrency. The support by some of the most important firms in the industry is a reflection of the increasing interest in the region, which could allow the crypto startup to eventually become a major player on the global stage.

The post Crypto Startup Yellow Card Closes $15 mln Series A Round appeared first on Grit Daily News.

The funding round, which was led by the Cathay AfricInvest Innovation Fund, brings the total funding raised by the startup to over $45 million. Other investors who participated in the round include Adjuvant Capital, KdT Ventures, Plexo Capital, Endeavor Capital, Ingression Capital, etc. Yassine Oussaifi, Partner at Cathay AfricInvest, commented on the round:

“As a pioneer in genomic and precision medicine in Nigeria, 54gene has built a unique health technology platform leveraging African resources to unlock scientific discoveries for the benefit of African and global communities. At Cathay AfricInvest Innovation, we’re dedicated to backing innovative, inclusive solutions that connect African technology and research with global innovation ecosystems to help them scale. 54gene works across drug discovery, molecular diagnostics and clinical trials, boosting access and affordability of various healthcare solutions that will have a positive impact worldwide. We look forward to working with the 54gene team on their development on the continent and beyond.”

Founded in 2019, 54gene is looking to revolutionize African genomics to improve the diagnosis and treatment of medical conditions around the world by offering valuable data for the development of new therapeutic approaches. The new funding will be used to expand its sequencing, target, identification, and validation capabilities, which will facilitate the discovery of new drugs in Africa and their application on a global scale 54gene’s CEO, Dr. Abasi Ene-Obong said in this regard:

“It’s truly incredible to witness the impact of African scientists in global research and it is critical to global health that this continues. We want to scale our contribution to global drug discovery by extensively developing life science capabilities on the continent and this additional capital will catalyse our endeavors.”

The use of genomics to improve the drug discovery process has gained continued traction over the past decade by revealing the underlying mechanisms of diverse diseases and conditions. The healthtech startup has already provided the scientific community with deep insights, which has allowed it to become a leading player in the field.

The post HealthTech Startup 54gene Raises $25 mln in Series B Funding appeared first on Grit Daily News.

Over the past year, SPACs have become increasingly popular by raising around $115 billion this year alone. This success is the result of its unique way to raise money through initial public offerings (IPOs) of a shell company, then merging with another company to allow them to go public.

The plans shared by people familiar with the matter involve the merging with Queen’s Gambit Growth Capital, which would value the startup at around $1.5 billion and allow it to be publicly listed in the process-

Founded in 2017 by Mostafa Kandi, a former employee for ride-sharing company Careem, Swvl operates in the Middle East and Africa by facilitating ride-sharing in regions with heavy traffic using its patented technology.

While companies like Uber currently offer similar services, Swvl aims to be a reliable alternative for people who depend on ride-sharing to reach their place of work or study.

Queen’s Gambit, which is led entirely by women, raised $300 million back in January when it went public and has been looking to invest in a company that offers sustainability in the sectors of clean energy, healthcare, mobility, or industrials, ultimately deciding to go with Swvl.

As a result of the merge. Queen’s Gambit Chief Executive Victoria Grace will be joining the board of directors along with another executive which is still to be named. The deal also involves two other executives joining the startup’s advisory board.

The startup is currently planning to expand its operations to Latin America and Europe, a plan that will be boosted by another investment of approximately $100 million by Agility, Luxor Capital Group LP, and Zain Group

With a total of 6 funding rounds to date, SWVL has raised about $174 million in total funding from 19 investors that include VNV Global, Blu Stone Management, Sawari Ventures, and Dash Ventures.

The post Ride-Sharing Startup Swvl Will Go Public With Female-Led SPAC appeared first on Grit Daily News.

The assistance provided by the accelerator will not be limited to funding, but will also include technical and business assistance, as well as in-kind benefits that allow startups to reach entrepreneurial success.

The partnership will provide investors with an easy way to connect with entrepreneurs and innovators of African descent. With this support, Africa House aims to actualize business ambitions and help founders of African descent to, “play their role in the global curating of the Africa of their dreams.”

The efforts will be run by the office located in Plano, Texas, which Kunle Africa House CEO and Director Kunle Soriyan referred to earlier this year by stating,

“The [location] in Dallas is like the real engine. The goal is to have all of this room filled with entrepreneurs. We believe in walking our entrepreneurs all the way, we want to stay with our entrepreneurs for at least 15 years. We can accommodate your failures, we can accommodate your mistakes and then we can celebrate your victories as well.”

While the entity’s efforts are primarily targeted to entrepreneurs of African descent, other demographics can be eligible contenders as long as they are minority groups. This is the result of the accelerator “trying to reach out to the vulnerable and exposed in society”, according to Soriyan.

Ever since the launch of the Dallas operation, more than 350 applications have been received by Africa House. From this pool, 100 applicants were selected to participate in a pitch competition in which 32 teams were ultimately selected, with 6 closing deals with investors during the competition.

At this time, the startup accelerator has operations in the African cities of Nairobi, Kenya; Lagos, Nigeria; Accra, Ghana; and Johannesburg, South Africa, as well as in the American cities of Plano, Dallas; and San Francisco, California.

The post Startup Accelerator Africa House Will Invest $1 mln in African Entrepreneurs In The US appeared first on Grit Daily News.

This batch will run until September of this year and will see 117 startups from around the world participate. This number could grow over the next few days if the accelerators continue to announce new participants.

Representatives from Africa include startups from countries like Nigeria, Egypt, Morocco, and South Africa, which are looking to disrupt a variety of industries ranging from pop stores to multi-currency payment solutions.

So far, Nigeria and Egypt lead the list with 3 startups each. The former with MechoAutotech, which connects auto part vendors with potential customers; Supplies, a Business-to-Business marketplace for pop stores; and Lemonade Finance, a payment solution platform.

On the other hand, Egypt’s representatives are Amenli, an online insurance brokerage; Odiggo, a car parts marketplace; and ShipBlu, a last-mile e-commerce delivery company).

Morocco is represented by two startups: Chari and Freeterium. Chari is a B2B E-Commerce Startup, while Freeterium is a SaaS platform that connects participants in the logistics value chain.

South Africa has only one representative: Floatpays. This startup is aiming to disrupt the on-demand wage access industry with its platform.

By joining one of the most prestigious startup accelerators, these startups will not only receive seed money, but also access to valuable advice, connections, marketing lessons, scalation tactics, and many more useful skills. In exchange, Y Combinator receives a 7% equity in each of the startups.

At the end of the program, all startups will present their products on “Demo Day”, which has become an iconic part of the program and Silicon Valley.

YC also invites founders and executives to advise participants, with this year’s visiting group partners including Diana Hu, co-founder and CTO of Escher Reality, and Calvin French-Owen, co-founder and CTO of Segment.

These 9 African tech startups could still be joined by more startups from the region, as YC has still not announced all participants in this year’s summer batch.

The post Y Combinator S21 Batch Will Include The Participation Of 9 African Tech Startups appeared first on Grit Daily News.

Under the partnership, the leading tech entrepreneurs across Africa will be supported with investment capital. The goal is to strengthen the scaling ecosystem for startups, and also benefit partnership by funneling global and regional capital towards impact funds.

TBI offers the tools for political leaders and governments to create open, inclusive, and prosperous societies in a globalized world. The TBI has been working with the Rwanda government since 2008.

Speaking on the partnership, Rishon Chimboza, the executive director of TBI, said that speeding up businesses’ development in Africa will be faster and the African economy will benefit.

“I am delighted that TBI is partnering with Katapult to support Rwanda’s agri-tech startups, and to build an investor network to help these businesses thrive and grow. Scalable businesses can play a vital role in Africa’s economic future, and given the right support, with public and private sectors working together, they can grow rapidly,” said the director.

Katapult, an impact acceleration and investment company headquartered in Norway, already has 15 African companies in its portfolio. Currently, the firm is entering the Rwandan market with an agri-tech accelerator in Kigali which is also the first part of the partnership with TBI.

According to the founder and owner of Katapult, Tharald Nustad, the project will not only create good conditions for new jobs, drive economic development, and provide capital for new and innovative solutions for food security in Rwanda, but the wider region.

“The timing for scalable tech solutions is now, and with fast-growing urbanization, a tech-savvy young population, we are ready to build the future of tech business from Rwanda,” he said.

Funded by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad), a directorate under the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. There will be an accelerator and investor training programs to support tech startups in Rwanda also in Africa on a more general basis.

The post Tony Blair Institute Teams (TBI) with Katapult to Support African Startups appeared first on Grit Daily News.

The new program will focus on two areas: an online training platform that delivers practical knowledge to online learners, and a “microtasking” platform that Sayna created.

By 2024 Sayna hopes to allow at least 8,000 people in Africa to gain the digital skills needed to work online, and also to train 3,500 people to work on its microtasking platform that provides IT support to the French-speaking world. The platform currently has a client base of 300 SMEs.

The co-founder and CEO of Sayna, Matina Razafimahefa, told the media,

“As a team, we are very proud of what we have accomplished so far. Our successes and failures have allowed us to truly understand our market so that we can now offer a solution that can truly reinvent access to the job market for junior developers. The best is ahead of us!”

Sayna is Africa’s first French-speaking and crowdsourcing platform launched in 2018.

The company brings career opportunities for young people and also solves digital problems in Africa.
Sayna allows users to learn how to develop IT skills at all levels of proficiency in a game-oriented model.

With this platform, Africans can move into micro jobs corresponding to their qualifications, and efficiently manage, organize and deliver projects.

Miarakap is an influencer investment firm dedicated to funding and supporting high-potential small and medium enterprises in Madagascar. In addition to its financial mission, another goal is supporting companies that create positive social, economic and environmental outcomes.

Launched in 2019, I&P Acceleration Technologies is a dedicated program for African digital startups led by Investisseurs & Partenaires (I&P).

I&P’s mission is to contribute to the emergence of the first digital startups in Africa and give them access to appropriate financial and technical means to accomplish goals.

The post Sayna Teams Up With Miarakap and I&P Acceleration Technologies to Expand Digital Education in Africa appeared first on Grit Daily News.

The conversation consisted of a number of seasoned entrepreneurs and investors with experience investing in the continent. Panelists included Geetha Tharmaratnam, a Partner at Aequalitas Capital and impact investor focused on Africa, Luni Libes, founder of Fledge Accelerator, and several other VCs, angels, and seasoned investors. The consensus agreed that while VC is possible, there are many challenges to tackle and that it must be tailored to Africa rather than exporting traditional funding models from abroad. Major hurdles include:

• Silicon Valley copy and paste doesn’t work
• Bringing Limited Partners (LPs) to the other side
• Need for new funding models that aren’t tied to IPO exits

Silicon Valley Copy and Paste

The traditional Silicon Valley VC model operates with 2% yearly management fee and 20% carry, meaning the bulk of the return is generated upon a successful IPO. This model works fairly well for the established Silicon Valley VC ecosystem where investments go mainly into asset-lite (software, mobile, etc) companies, and there are many high multiple opportunities. However, for Africa, this is only a small portion of the market, and most SMEs are not on a path to IPO.

The cost for a fund manager of operating in the African region is also quite high and with the exception of a few countries with solid wifi penetration, the length of time it takes to find investments and execute them means fund managers are forced to take on additional roles they are not used to and become more involved in the startup itself. Given the smaller size of funds, this makes working in that model challenging both operationally and financially.

According to Tharmaratnam, VC is just another quiver in the bow adding to the types of financing vehicles in the region but not the main one. She states we have to start with the fundamentals of the business and whether real value is being created, otherwise it is a game of musical chairs. In Africa “the value of early-stage business starts with what they are doing for the economy vs. if there is a sufficiently sexy story to tell” which is a common thread for US venture capital markets where valuations are many times “divorced from cash flow.”

Another opinion that was voiced was that if investors can adjust to the African reality, where income levels are lower and businesses need to scale across smaller markets, while additionally taking on a very hands-on approach, that the VC model can in fact work. However, for exits, it’s important to know who strategic investors and likely buyers are while keeping in mind that IPO is not an option, and keeping focused on EBITDA and cash generation.

Bringing LPs to the other side

The other challenge that remains difficult for VC in Africa is not only the need for different financial models but also the need to educate limited partners (LPs) providing the fund capital so that they understand the different structures and adjust return expectations accordingly. New financial models such as Smart Asset Financing, flexible capital, and other non-diluted structures are better for the smaller, asset-intensive needs of African startups, and payouts differ vastly. Often these models are a mix of debt plus revenue share or debt/equity mixes that are hard for traditional investors to wrap their minds around, it will take more market education through platforms such as The Nest to make these models more widely understood.

What are the Alternatives?

Untapped Global has developed a unique alternative financing vehicle, called Smart Asset Financing 

that leverages technology to track the usage of assets purchased through a debt model. For small businesses in Africa and in frontier markets, access to capital for large equipment purchases is often hard, if not impossible for entrepreneurs to secure. Untapped fills that gap for asset-heavy companies and with the use of its IoT sensor technology, enables investors to know exactly how their investments are being used, and how well they are generating returns on CAPEX. 

Another unique approach to financing African startups comes from Fledge Accelerator, where they have developed redeemable equity, also called royalty equity. This revenue-based equity model enables Fledge to provide a loan instrument that has upside built into it. The accelerator buys shares but doesn’t fret over valuation. The funded company is then contracted to buy back their shares with a price set at the time of purchase and equal to a certain percentage of revenue every quarter. The example below provides a potential scenario where $100,000 is invested for 10 percent ownership, the startup then agrees to re-purchase half of those shares, buying back five percent at a 2x return to the Fledge, still leaving the accelerator with five percent ownership and an opportunity to share in startup upside. 

“The revenue-based equity model aligns our interests with the founders, avoids any pressure to “sell-out”, and lets us invest in just about any market segment and most any country in the world. Plus, we make introductions to impact investors and make follow-on investments from our family of seed funds.” Luni Libes, Fledge Accelerator

Africa holds much promise as the fastest-growing continent on the planet, and with rapidly digitizing economies that are poised to leapfrog developed economies through growth and adoption. The keys to making investments work in Africa are approaching the continent with a unique perspective and mindset quite different from the Silicon Valley investing mindset. It requires patience, more hands-on involvement, more ecosystem building, and more creativity when it comes to financing models such as what Untapped Global and Fledge have developed. Rewards await both in terms of impact and profit for those who can master these nuances. 

You can find and listen to this fascinating conversation here.

The post Is Venture Capital the Right Model for Investing in Africa? appeared first on Grit Daily News.

Many people assume that Africa is impoverished and dry; that the people are destitute and living mostly in mud huts on rural savannahs. People may assume that the entire continent is steeped in violence and war, but these assumptions are unfounded. These ideas are based on what we’ve seen in movies or ads for charitable organizations, but they aren’t the whole truth. There are many opportunities to invest in Africa.

Almost half of the African population live in large cities where you won’t find many mud huts. Eighty percent have access to a mobile phone. In the next few years, 65% will be considered middle class with a working-age population that will soon exceed that of China and India. Africa is home to 16% of the world’s population but only 3% of the global GDP currently. That disparity is coming to an end as the African economy is the only one set to grow by double digits in the next 10 years. African GDP will reach $4.5 trillion by 2025.  

Opportunities Abound in Africa

The fact is that Africa is brimming with opportunity, potential, and growth. The African population is still in need of some of the basic things that are common in Western society, such as healthcare and education. Investors, businesses, and individual entrepreneurs can take advantage of the market need and find great success in meeting the challenges that face African societies. It’s a fantastic environment for both growing businesses and investments, and for bettering the lives of the general population in meaningful ways. Big tech companies, such as Facebook, have been investing heavily in the continent.

Healthcare and Education

There are currently five core sectors with potential for growth in the African economy: healthcare, education, agriculture, finance, and energy. Although Africa has 16% of the global population, it only has 2% of the world’s doctors. The great need for better access to healthcare has opened up a growing market for health tech that is growing rapidly. In the next three years, the African healthcare industry will reach over $37.1 billion.

Education is another area where the immense need has created a massive growth environment opportunity. The COVID pandemic spurred a 97% increase in the use of educational technology. More children in sub-Sahara Africa are finishing primary school than ever before. Nevertheless, 1 in 5 children still are not receiving an education. That means that only 28 million out of 450+ million children are benefiting from the current education system.

Agriculture, Finance, and Energy

The third growth sector is agriculture.  Africa has huge potential for expanding agriculture. The continent contains 60% of the world’s arable land, but 12% of  harvests are lost, mostly due to poor storage. Sub-Saharan Africa still imports $15 billion in crops every year. Investments in infrastructure and agricultural inputs could actually triple the current agricultural yields.

Number four is the finance sector. The vast majority of Africans have access to mobile phones. Online transactions have overtaken traditional banking, reaching $456.3 billion in 2019. By 2022, banking revenue will reach $129 billion. Foreign nations are investing in Africa, which yields a higher ROI than in any other developing region.

The fifth major growth area is in energy. A number of African countries are far more advanced in sustainable energy use than Western countries. In fact, while the US and UK only source 11% of the energy from renewable sources, Kenya, for example, sources 13% from geothermal and 50% from hydroelectricity. The rest of the world needs to catch up!

In summary, Africa is far more advanced in many ways than many in Western society have understood. The potential for business investment in Africa is well beyond our former thinking. It’s time for the business world to chase after this rapidly growing economy and get involved in empowering this rich, diverse land of our origins. Learn more on investing in Africa in the visuals below:

The post Investing in Africa appeared first on Grit Daily News.