African Start-up Conference Call for the creation of regional and continental financing funds to complement national mechanisms

During this session, held at the International Conference Centre (CIC), Abdelatif-Rahal in Algiers, African ministers and senior officials examined ways to strengthen the business environment and create new opportunities to promote the emergence of African businesses and entrepreneurs, emphasising the need to strengthen continental and international partnerships and develop coherent policies that enhance the competitiveness of entrepreneurs at the African and worldwide.

In this context, the Minister of State for Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and Innovation in Rwanda, Mr Yves Iradukunda, emphasised the importance of creating regional and continental funding pools that will complement existing national mechanisms and enable start-ups to move from local funding to higher levels of expansion.

He also highlighted the potential role that international financial institutions, such as the World Bank, could play in this direction by creating financing mechanisms that offer greater growth prospects for start-ups.

He also emphasised the need to establish mechanisms enabling start-ups that have tested experimental regulatory environments in a given country to move to other African countries without having to start the process from scratch, specifying that the implementation of this approach requires the harmonisation of regulatory frameworks between states and the strengthening of the role of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) in this area.

Mr Iradukunda said that the African continent "has significant amounts of money available to support start-ups, but the lack of synergy between national initiatives limits its ability to achieve a significant impact".

Regarding the conference, the Rwandan Minister of State stated that this edition clearly reflects the African continent's commitment to strengthening the innovation ecosystem and supporting start-ups through frameworks and programmes implemented by the African Union and national governments.

On the first day of the conference, several African start-ups presented their experiences and journeys in developing innovative business models that have enabled them to grow and access new markets.

As a reminder, Prime Minister Sifi Ghrieb inaugurated the Start-up Fair on Saturday at the International Conference Centre (CIC). The fair, held as part of the conference, features more than 200 exhibitors from several African countries.

The opening ceremony of this fourth edition, organised under the patronage of the President of the Republic, Mr Abdelmadjid Tebboune, took place under the supervision of the Prime Minister and in the presence of members of the Government, representatives of several national and international institutions and organisations, members of the diplomatic corps accredited in Algeria, ministers and representatives of the innovation and start-up sector from several African countries.