Applications open this week for Chapter54, a new accelerator program for European tech scaleups looking to expand into African markets. Implemented by Partech Shaker, Partech’s innovation programs arm, with financing from Germany’s KfW Development Bank, the program will provide financial and operational assistance to selected businesses from across Europe to build their footprint in Africa.
Europe is Africa’s leading investor, with foreign direct investment topping $275 billion. Enabling further investment and trade ties, especially in the tech sector, opens important, mutually beneficial, market opportunities. Chapter54 enterprises will join a vibrant and growing tech scene. Investment into African tech companies has experienced a significant bump, with fintech alone representing over 60% of funding in 2021, according to market research. In the first nine months of 2021 alone, fintechs secured investment totalling $1.5 billion, more than they had received across the previous decade, which saw inflows of $1 billion.
This rising investment is part of a wider trend of growing deals, which are growing in both number and ticket size. Africa has seen the emergence of seven tech unicorns, with five fintechs – Fawry, OPay, Wave, Flutterwave and Interswitch – joined by e-commerce platform Jumia and engineering talent platform Andela, both also major players on the continent in their respective fields.
The large-scale investments and growth of the sector create a positive feedback loop, pulling in further venture capital, developing technological pathways for trade and opening up the market for other tech-enabled innovations to an increasingly tech-savvy and financially included consumer base.
To enable new entrants to take advantage of these opportunities, Chapter54 has selected a network of business support providers with strong local expertise and knowledge. Asoko Insight, Africa’s leading provider of corporate data, analysis and engagement, is proud to be the program’s data partner, offering bespoke market research, including comprehensive supply chain mapping within specific markets and business lines, to support market entry.
Rob Withagen, Asoko’s co-founder and CEO, said of the partnership: “Over the past eight years, Asoko has built a solid reputation as a leading provider of corporate data and market analysis, serving a client base of multilateral, multinationals and international investors. We’re pleased to extend our services to European tech scaleups entering African markets through our participation in Chapter54.”
“To enter the African market, you have to adapt the way you hire, you pay, you sell, you onboard. We curated a large network of mentors and speakers, as well as soft-landing solutions to do it the right way. Asoko will help power the next generation of African tech leaders to success. With Asoko and the other partners (data provider Africa Panel, legal platform Afriwise, digital recruitment platform Talent2Africa, Gebeya freelance marketplace, and FieldPro workflow automation platform), we have built the perfect toolkit a scaleup may need to initiate its business in Africa,” comments Vincent Previ, Managing Director of Chapter54.
