France Set To Invest €65M Into African Startups

Emmanuel Macron, the President of Frances has announced his country’s plans to invest €65M ($76m) into startups in Africa. He disclosed this at the third edition of the ongoing VivaTech trade fair, which brings together innovators, investors, and entrepreneurs in Paris.

This year VivaTech, which features speeches by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Uber boss Dara Khosrowshahi, has put a special focus on innovation in Africa’s tiny but fast-growing startup scene.

“African startups have energy but the big providers of development aid and financiers have not adapted to that. We ourselves are too slow, too hesitant,” Macron, a passionate tech advocate, told the fair, which was attended by Rwandan President Paul Kagame.

Macron said the French development agency AFD would set up a fund “to fill the gaps in the support with small sums ranging from 30,000 to 50,000 euros, which is what startups need.”

The AFD also aimed to bring other donors on board “to grow this initiative tenfold,” Macron said.

Entrepreneurs would be able to apply for funding through the AFD’s Digital Africa platform, he said.

The scheme will be launched in the coming weeks, Macron said. He did not give the duration of the project.

France’s young president has made entrepreneurship a cornerstone of his domestic economic policy as well as his overseas development strategy.