10 New Startup Incubators To Watch In Africa

One of the major challenges faced by startups is accessing sufficient capital and business advisory. 

To address this challenge, business incubators were established to help to speed up the growth and success of startups by providing them with funding, angel investors and coalition among other things. 

This innovative sector has sprung into life in the past few years and is becoming a rapidly emerging phenomenon in Africa, with new incubators being launched with greater frequency. These incubators offer support to businesses ranging from tech and agriculture to construction and education. 

Here is a list of startup incubators launched this year that you need to watch. 

Think Incubator: “Think” is the brainchild of telecommunication giant, Millicom, which was launched in Rwanda in March 2014. The tech incubator, which is located in Kigali, is designed to develop new digital solutions for Africa. “We want it (Think) to develop innovative and scalable businesses in which Millicom will take an equity stake,” the company said in its website. 

Millicom will provide exceptional startups and developers with seed financing, structured six month training and coaching programmes, access to Tigo technical resources for product testing and trials and support in accessing outside investors and customers. The opportunity is open to Rwandans and tech startups from different part of the continent. 

West African Agri-Business Resource Incubator (WAARI): Lauded as the first ever full-fledged agribusiness incubator in West Africa, the West African Agri-Business Resource Incubator (WAARI) was officially launched in January 2014 by the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) and its Universities, Business and Research in Agricultural Innovation (UniBRAIN) partners in Selingue province of Mali. 

The incubator will serve as a training, research and advisory centre for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), start-ups and enterprises undertaking change and innovation. Its launch signifies the importance of agribusiness development in building a sustainable economy in Africa. 

i-CRE8 South Africa (i-CRE8 SA): An initiative of Johannesburg-based youth organisation Youth Lab, i-CRE8 is an idea innovation incubator targeting innovative young South Africans who have an idea that may change their communities, but are not necessarily entrepreneurs or small business owners. 

Its creator describes it as “a unique opportunity for young thinkers to change the world in which they live in a real way.” 

20 young South Africans between the ages of 18 and 30 will be provided with skills, mentorship and a chance at accessing seed funding for their ideas. According to Managing Director of Youth Lab, Zamandlovu Ndlovu, “Young people are a key natural resource for innovative nations. Not only are they more likely to take risks and challenge norms, they are also more likely to support new ideas.” 

The Rwanda Media Hub: The Rwanda Media Hub is the first incubator for digital media and media production enterprises in East Africa. The media incubator was launched in April by the Institute for War & Peace Reporting (IWPR), providing up to $450,000 in seed funding for local media entrepreneurs in Rwanda with access to seed grants, office space and mentoring to help foster a vibrant media in the country. 

Seed funding of about $10,000 to $20,000 will be disbursed to 25 promising Rwandan enterprises covering a wide range of projects, from classic content production for audio-visual and print media, to cutting edge digital media companies, and businesses working with Rwandan culture and media in general. 

The Passion Incubator: This incubator has one goal – to be the premier technology incubator in Africa.

Barely one year old, Passion Incubator also serves as an accelerator with a short term goal of launching 5 startups from its acceleration class this year. The Yaba-based tech hub does not intend to place any cash investments in the start-ups but connect them to investors that will help them create a commercially viable world-class product. Passion Incubator is founded by Taiwo Ajetunmobi and Olufunbi Falaye. 

Sorghum Value Chain Development Consortium (SVCDC): The sorghum-based agribusiness incubator was launched with an express mandate to improve agribusiness education and catalyse the growth of sustainable enterprises for young people, especially agribusiness students and graduates in Africa. The syndicate will provide hand-on services to start-up business right from conceptualisation; support This initiative is also supported by UniBRAIN and the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA). 

SWAPP (Sustainable West Africa palm oil programme): Founded by Solidaridad West Africa and supported by funding from the Dutch government, the Sustainable West Africa Palm Oil Programme (SWAPP) provides support and capital to help develop the oil palm sector. The SWAPP incubator which was launched in Ghana early this year is open to oil palm farmers, mill operators, and input supplies through a transparent and competitive selection criterion. 

“SWAPP’s goal is to increase the productivity and profitability of small to medium scale enterprises, farms and mills in the oil palm sector initially in Ghana, and thereafter, replicated in other West African countries,” says Kosi Yankey, Agri-business Incubator Specialist. 

Seda Construction Incubator: Launched in April by the Small Enterprise Development Agency (Seda), Seda Construction Incubator provides support services and resources to eligible enterprises, with a view of elevating them beyond mere survivalist modes of operation. It is specially created to aid industrialisation in Durban, South Africa. 

Edupreneurs : In August, Pearson decided to replicate the success it achieved in India with Edupreneurs to address education challenges in Africa. 

Edupreneurs is an incubator created through the Pearson Affordable Learning Fund to foster and support education entrepreneurship in Africa. It will be funded through the Pearson Affordable Learning Fund. 

CIPMEN (Niger): CIPMEN is the third Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) incubator of the Orange Group launched Niger to help SMEs from their launch phase until they become profitable. 

The incubator will help companies in future-oriented sectors such as Information and Communication Technologies, renewable energy and the environment. 

“The purpose of CIPMEN is to help innovative SMEs grow on a market where many companies fail to see the light of day, and to bridge the gap between the informal sector and the larger national and international companies,” Orange Group said. 

Source:Venture Africa