Washington D.C. – Today, Prosper Africa and Future Africa announced the launch of the Accelerate Africa program. The program provides intensive guidance, mentorship, and resources for early stage African Founders. In partnership with Prosper Africa, Future Africa will support dynamic African entrepreneurs as they embark on a 7-week pre-accelerator program that will prepare them for global scale through accelerator programs such as Y-Combinator, 500 Startups, and Techstars. The program will position these entrepreneurs to raise more investment funding and build more robust startups.
This partnership delivers on the U.S. Government’s commitments from the U.S-Africa Leaders Summit to increase investment on the continent. Prosper Africa committed $170 million in the Summit’s Deal Room to increase U.S. investment in Africa and African exports to the United States by $2 billion in the next five years, including through the new Prosper Africa Catalytic Investment Facility.
Future Africa is one of five African asset managers partnering with the U.S. Government under the new Prosper Africa Catalytic Investment Facility. With $6 million in U.S. Government funding, these first five partnerships expect to mobilize more than $200 million in private capital to fuel African innovation and entrepreneurship. In partnership with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Prosper Africa’s new Catalytic Investment Facility invests in African funds that have a pipeline of growth-oriented businesses across the continent. The investment facility unlocks private capital to drive scale and sustainability while decreasing risk for prospective U.S. investors. This approach deepens the initiative’s reach and catalyzes greater investment into high-growth, small and medium-sized businesses across the African continent, with a focus on those that are advancing African solutions to global challenges.
“In positioning African founders and startups for success, we hope to mobilize further investment into the region and bolster support for solution-driven innovations that address global challenges like climate change and food security,” says Prosper Africa Acting Coordinator, Scott Cameron.
“Future Africa has invested over $10 million into 101 portfolio companies worth over $1 billion cumulatively,” says Future Africa Founding Partner Iyinoluwa E. Aboyeji. “We recognize this is the time to deepen our commitment and focus on preparing African Founders for global scale through the Accelerate Africa Program by connecting the ecosystem of mission-aligned partners to provide access to capital, customers and channels to catalyze their trajectory. We are appreciative of the opportunity brought about by the partnership with Prosper Africa to nurture a new generation of bold and visionary leaders turning our continent’s biggest challenges into billion-dollar global businesses.”
The application window for interested founders will open on May 3, 2023 and close on May 19, 2023. More information is available at www.future.africa/accelerate-africa.
About Prosper Africa
Prosper Africa is the U.S. Government initiative to increase two-way trade and investment between the United States and African countries. Prosper Africa brings together – and enhances – the full suite of U.S. Government services and resources to help companies and investors do business in U.S. and African markets. Through the initiative, the U.S. Government is launching innovative new tools to advance deals, unlock market opportunities, and strengthen business and investment climates.
For more information, please visit: prosperafrica.gov
About the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
USAID is the world’s premier international development agency and a catalytic actor driving development results. The USAID Africa Trade and Investment program is designed to bolster USAID’s ability to boost trade and investment to, from, and within the African continent. The continent-wide program is USAID’s flagship effort under the Prosper Africa initiative. The program allows the U.S. Government to work closely with the private sector to shape activities that unlock business opportunities, particularly those that drive trade and investment into and out of African markets. Contact info@atiprogram.com for more information.