Village Capital Helps Fledgling Accelerators, Incubators In Africa Up Their Game

A while ago, the folks at Village Capital, which runs global accelerators for seed-stage impact startups, took a hard look at other entrepreneurial support organizations (ESOs) in the African ecosystem and made a decision: to give other, newer groups a helping hand.

So, they set out to build a program to do that. “We needed to find a way to support those who are supporting others,” says Adedana Ashebir, regional manager Sub-Saharan Africa. “How could we use our experience to help organizations just getting started?”

A Plethora of Hubs

To use a technical term, a ton of accelerators, incubators and other ESOs are operating in Africa. There were about 200 in 2015; that number has more than doubled since then, according to Village Capital, which runs accelerators in Africa, the U.S. and elsewhere.

But in recent years, Village Capital staff in Africa started to notice something. Many of those ESOs weren’t operating at full throttle. What was needed, they reasoned, was a way to increase the effectiveness of the ESOs, so they could do the same for entrepreneurs they aimed to help.

The answer, they determined, was to expand the Village Capital focus in Africa to the larger ecosystem, not just entrepreneurs. With that in mind, in 2018, Village Capital started VilCap Community Africa, working with 15 organizations in 18 countries, such as Bein, Togo, Gabon and others, to figure out what they needed.

In the process, they uncovered multiple concerns. One had to do with location. ESO hubs tended to be located in just a handful of areas. “If you’re not Capetown, Lagos or Nairobi, you’re a bit out of luck,” says Ashebir. Another problem: While entrepreneurs needed both training and financing, many ESOs didn’t have experience with the many complexities involved in forming a fund.

Most important, however, were two issues: ESOs needed to find ways to become financially sustainable. And they required better-equipped staff members.

Two Programs

Those findings led to the formation of a program called NextGen Ecosystem Builders. The first two sessions took place in June and August; the last will be in October. Working with the African Management Institute and other partners, it’s training 47 mid level managers at 24 hubs across the continent.

Originally intended to be held the usual way, in-person, organizers had to change to virtual after the pandemic hit. Fortunately, the sessions are divided up according to French and English speakers, which has provided a natural way to break the group into smaller cohorts.

The curriculum includes such topics as pinpointing key stakeholders—in other words, governments, investors, entrepreneurs and so on—as well as problem solving, startups’ fundraising needs and other issues.

Another place-based program is now in the works: Uganda Ecosystem Builders. While Village Capital had to delay the launch due to Covid, they’re planning to start it up later this year. The focus will be on how the ESOs can attain financial sustainability.

Startup Accelerators Continue

Village Capital also continues to hold entrepreneurial accelerators in Africa. Over the past eight years, it’s run nine programs for entrepreneurs, working with more than 100 ventures in such areas as fintech, education and hardware. Two more are planned for next year.

The programs also use the usual Village Capital model, through which entrepreneurs decide among themselves who should receive investment.