Digital Africa is rolling out the "Fuzé" program to support the development of the tech ecosystem in Africa.
Launched in 2018, Digital Africa is an initiative created to support digital innovation in Africa. Designed as a label dedicated to supporting startups on the continent, Digital Africa is the result of the French government's financial commitment to the development of African ecosystems. At the third edition of the VivaTech trade show, Emmanuel Macron announced a €65 million commitment through a specific instrument deployed by the French Development Agency via the Digital Africa platform to support startup projects.
Since then, the project has been supported by a dozen African and French organizations, led by major digital and tech players such as Rebecca Enonchong and Karim Sy, founder of Jokkolabs. Although the project's ambitions have at times given rise to differences of opinion and governance issues, the instrument continues to be deployed across the continent.
In line with this momentum, Digital Africa recently launched the "Fuzé" program in Africa, an investment program aimed at strengthening the capacity of entrepreneurs to design and deploy digital innovations that serve the real economy.
€6.5 million, divided into €50,000 tickets, will be devoted to this initiative, thereby supporting the financing of projects led by entrepreneurs on the continent. It should be remembered that the lack of financing remains one of the main obstacles to the development of the startup ecosystem, even as more and more young people embark on this adventure. Digital technology and tech make it possible to meet specific needs on the continent and find appropriate solutions. This leaves many opportunities for this young generation to seize… Provided that there is investment and that it is not concentrated solely in certain sectors of activity and certain countries such as South Africa, Nigeria, and Kenya.
The "Fuzé" program will initially target entrepreneurs in Morocco, Tunisia, Rwanda, Senegal, and Ivory Coast, before expanding to other French-speaking African countries in 2023.