Harambe Entrepreneur Alliance supported by Cisco Systems Inc. and a foundation of South African businessman Jonathan Oppenheimer, has raised $1 million to support its African technology startups and initiate the return of venture capital to the continent following the coronavirus outbreak.
Harambe Chairman Okendo Lewis-Gayle in a phone interview disclosed that the group has awarded about $100,000 each for two Nigerian companies to help them through economic downturns caused by the pandemic. Those are Max.ng, a taxi-hailing service, and Releaf Group, a platform for sorting and distributing farm products.
Lewis-Gayle who founded Harambe in 2008 said, “The capital markets have frozen up.
“We are hoping to create a domino effect in terms of investment in African startups.”
The U.S based Harambe has raised over $500 million from prominent families, individuals and international companies to support African entrepreneurs. Its list of past investors has included Mark Zuckerberg, Jack Ma, and Bill Gates.
Prequin Ltd reported that venture capital globally has experienced dwindling fortunes with deals down 23% during the first quarter of the year compared with 2019 as investors and funds take a more cautious approach amid the pandemic.
Africa has not experienced special treatment despite being less affected by the virus than Europe and North America. About half of Harambe’s companies expect the financial impact to become critical in the next three months, Lewis-Gayle said.
He said, “We are expecting them to adapt. For example, Max “has decided to also include home-deliveries of goods as part of its service, and delivers for free to the elderly population.”
