A panel of experts has shortlisted 11 promising small businesses in Africa in the second leg of MultiChoice Africa Accelerator programme and invited them to pitch to prospective international investors in Dubai.
MultiChoice launched the Africa Accelerator programme in recognition of the critical role SMMEs play and has trained 29 businesses across 9 African countries in key entrepreneurial skills.
Specifically, the programme targets start-ups and small businesses in the technology sectors of health tech, agritech, finteh, edutech, the circular economy and creative industries.
The 11 start-ups attended a dedicated boot camp in Lusaka, Zambia to learn more about how to shape their story for international investors, and to get “pitch ready” before their big presentations.
The start-ups shortlisted to present their business plans to a panel of investors for this year’s MultiChoice Africa Accelerator Programme are Tupuca from Angola, Taskmoby from Ethiopia, StarNews Mobile from Ivory Coast, Tendo from Ghana, and Zuri Health from Kenya.
Others include Dojah Inc and Crop2Cash both from Nigeria, MaTontine from Senegal, Botlhale AI and Gradesmatch both from South Africa, and Mighty Finance Solution from Zambia.
Speaking on the programme and the benefits to start-ups in the continent, MultiChoice Africa CEO, Fhulufhelo Badugela, said: “There’s no denying the impact African SMMEs have on job creation and economic growth.
“Through the MultiChoice Africa Accelerator Programme, our vision is to take that impact and multiply it beyond what our start-up founders ever believed possible. I have no doubt these small businesses will be able to take everything they’ve learned so far to unlock transformative business funding.”
“The quality of the submissions this year was high. It confirms our view that Africa has enormous potential. The specific focus on tech industries allows us to showcase the innovation of Africa to the world, but also enables these businesses to develop tech solutions to real societal problems” Badugela added.
The first phase of the MultiChoice Africa Accelerator Programme saw public and private-sector partners in each country nominating businesses or entrepreneurs for the programme. From there, 29 of the start-ups embarked on an intensive virtual training course during December 2022 in Johannesburg, South Africa.
