At the ongoing 24th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) launched the Timbuktoo Africa Innovation Fund, a $1 billion initiative aimed at supporting African startups.
The initiative, revealed by Rwandan President Paul Kagame, Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo, the Secretary-General of the African Continental Free Trade Area Secretariat, HE Wamkele Mene, and UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner, is set to be the largest financing facility combining catalytic and commercial capital.
This initiative will focus on leveraging Africa’s significant youth demographic and abundant innovative potential. President Kagame announced an immediate donation of $3 million to the initiative, which is based in Kigali and has a billion-dollar target.
Timbuktoo, promoted by the UNDP, aims to work with African governments, investors, corporates, and educational institutions to fill critical gaps in the continent’s startup ecosystem. It will concentrate on comprehensive growth, from fostering startup-friendly regulation to enabling world-class startup development.
Despite a surge in private venture capital investment that is growing six times faster than the global average, Africa currently accounts for merely 0.2% of global startup value. The majority of venture capital in Africa, 89%, is foreign, with four countries – Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, and Egypt – receiving 83%.
The Timbuktoo Africa Innovation Fund’s objective is to mobilize and invest $1 billion to transform 100 million lives and create 10 million new jobs. By blending commercial and catalytic capital to minimize investment risk, Timbuktoo takes a unique pan-African approach to support startups, linking government policy, universities, companies, development partners, catalytic partners, and commercial investors.
