Venture Capital: UNDP To Launch “Timbuktoo,” A $1B Investment Initiative For African Startups

August 18, 2022 | News, Venture Capital
https://dailyalts.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/giraffe-gcc5637978_640.jpg

Timbuktoo launched in Nigeria on Wednesday, August 17.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) plans to bankroll $1 billion in start-up funding for African businesses over a period of ten years and will involve both public and private capital.

The UNDP Africa aims to engage a large number of private and public sector partners to establish eight Timbuktoo hubs across Africa’s leading startup ecosystems (Accra, Nairobi, Cape Town, Lagos, Dakar, Kigali, Casablanca, and Cairo, among others) and begin operations in 2023, according to a statement.

Each hub, the organisers claim, will focus on a different sector of Fintech, Agrtech, Healthtech, Greentech, Creative, Tradetech, and Logistics, Smart Cities, and Mobility, and Tourismtech, that touches on all of these sectors at once. There will also be a Venture Builder and a Venture Fund housed in each hub.

Timbuktoo has also spearheaded the establishment of University Innovation Pods (UniPods), at national level in ten Lower-Income Countries in Africa (Benin, Chad, Guinea Conakry, Lesotho, Malawi, Mali, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Togo, and Uganda), with the goal of prompting university students to develop innovative and imaginative thinking. The UniPods will be operational by the end of 2022, and as a result, Timbuktoo’s influence will extend to eighteen African nations by 2023, the statement said.

Timbuktoo’s structure involves a Parent Fund of catalytic grant capital, tied with impact-oriented catalytic partners, that would finance the network of Hubs and also a HeadQuarters. In addition, a minor stake in each of the Hub Venture Funds, which are commercially oriented, would be provided as guarantees or first-loss capital, the announcement said.

Related Story: Opay Nabs $400M; Turns Africa’s Fastest Unicorn

Free Industry News

Subscribe to our free newsletter for updates and news about alternatives investments.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.


Shape

Latest Alternative Investment News

https://dailyalts.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/AMD_headquarters_santa_clara.624da707519a6.jpg
Artificial Intelligence: AMD Takes On Rivals In The AI Chip Sweepstakes
December 7, 2023     Artificial Intelligence, News

Chipmaker AMD (NASDAQ: AMD) has unveiled a range of innovative AI solutions spanning from data centers to personal computers. The AMD Instinct MI300 Series features data center AI accelerators, while…

https://dailyalts.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/RHCEU-Inline.jpg
Digital Assets: Robinhood Debuts Crypto Trading On Its App In The EU
December 7, 2023     Digital Assets, FinTech, News

Robinhood (NASDAQ: HOOD) has launched its Crypto app in the European Union (EU), allowing eligible customers to engage in crypto trading with the added incentive of earning Bitcoin rewards. Customers…

https://dailyalts.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Samsung_UK_Samsung_Pay_Lifestyle_0552-revised-Pictogram-23.11.30-1024x744-1.png
FinTech: Samsung Electronics Ties With Mastercard’s Wallet Express
December 7, 2023     FinTech, News

Samsung Electronics (KRX: 005930) and Mastercard (NYSE: MA) have partnered to launch the Wallet Express program, offering banks and card issuers a cost-effective way to expand digital wallet offerings. Through…

https://dailyalts.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Revaia-founders.jpg
Venture Capital: Revaia, Europe’s Biggest Female-Led VC Firm, Racks Up $160M For Second Fund
December 7, 2023     ESG and Sustainability, News, Venture Capital

Revaia, Europe’s largest female-founded venture capital firm, has successfully raised €150 million ($160 million) for its second fund, Revaia Growth II. The funding was secured from sovereign wealth funds, family…