A cohort of African fund managers will head to Oxford University for a week-long training programme, to extend expertise on the continent’s exponential growth in the tech venture capital space.
South African venture capital firm Knife Capital is one of the 15 funds participating in the Africa Venture Finance Programme, designed for venture capital (VC) fund managers investing in early and growth-stage technology companies on the continent.
The week-long course will focus on sharing best practice and peer-to-peer knowledge, and provide insights and learning opportunities in relevant aspects of fund management.
Participating funds will be hosted by the Boost Africa Technical Assistance Facility and AfricaGrow Technical Assistance Facility from 12 to 16 September.
“Both AfricaGrow and Boost Africa aim to have a catalytic effect on the emerging African start-up ecosystem by investing in and supporting VC funds in Africa,” says David van Dijk, team leader, Boost Africa Technical Assistance Facility.
“This week at the Oxford Saïd Business School is quite unique in bringing together 40 of Africa’s most relevant investors, and will definitely help in furthering the conversation on how we can ensure the most promising founders on the continent have a fighting chance to start and grow their businesses.”
The African tech ecosystem is being tipped for further growth, as it has tripled in size since 2020.
A Partech Partners report on the continent’s venture capital sector says in 2021, 640 African tech start-ups raised a total of $5.2 billion across 681 equity rounds.
This, the report says, was 3.6 times year-on-year growth, making African tech venture capital the world’s fastest-growing ecosystem.
However, it notes the proportion of African-led start-ups receiving significant funding remains woefully low, remaining in the single digits.
Now, for the Oxford programme, 40 fund managers have been selected from diverse African investment funds for the in-person programme to be held at Oxford’s Saïd Business School.
In total, 15 funds will be represented, with participants including fund managers from AfricInvest, Knife Capital, TL Com Capital, Ventures Platform Fund, Janngo Capital, Atlantica Ventures and others.
“We are incredibly excited to be convening a group of the leading African venture capital funds for this course in Oxford,” says Aunnie Patton Power, programme director, Oxford Saïd Business School.
“During the week, participants will engage with global venture capital experts, Oxford faculty and most importantly, each other. We are hopeful that the course contributes to a strengthening and connecting of the African VC ecosystem.”
Ambroise Fayolle, vice-president of the European Investment Bank (EIB), adds: “The EIB is committed to supporting high impact innovation investment around the world.
“We are pleased to support the Boost Africa programme that is sharing investment best practice to strengthen the lasting impact of investment partners across Africa.”
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