Speaking at the 2022 U.S.-Africa Business Summit, speakers from Morocco\u2019s Mohammed VI Polytechnic University and fertilizer giant OCP Group detailed their respective organizations\u2019 efforts to support startups in Morocco and Africa.<\/p>\n
The panel, titled \u201cKey Challenges & Opportunities for Emerging Startups in Africa,\u201d dealt with various obstacles facing the continent These obstacles include a lack of financing and a poor startup culture, while they highlighted advantages like the continent\u2019s large population and young workforce.<\/p>\n
A need for startup culture
\nOne major hurdle that many of the speakers agreed on is a relatively lackluster startup and entrepreneurship culture in Africa, especially when compared to places like the US.<\/p>\n
Ali Kettani, co-founder of ALK Finance, said that African countries can be divided into tiers in this regard, with some already having a healthy investment and entrepreneurship ecosystem, while others are still catching up.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe dream of young people in African countries is to be an entrepreneur, but they\u2019re not properly supported by banks or networking,\u201d he said Kettani further noted that native investment funds will be beneficial in supporting startups and making Morocco a huge pan-African player.<\/p>\n
This lack of a startup culture can produce a cyclical effect, as Chari founder and CEO Ismael Belkhayat noted He said that for Moroccan startups, it can be hard to find the right investors abroad due to the absence of other startups to be compared with.<\/p>\n
This lack of acknowledgment for startups ends up manifesting itself in other ways, as startups that have the potential to elevate some of the most critical sectors end up having to rely on data that is either incomplete or unavailable.<\/p>\n
Health startups for example find themselves lacking in data that is necessary for their approval, because of inefficiencies plaguing the continent. For the panel speakers, this only highlights the need for big corporations to cooperate with startups.<\/p>\n
OCP and agriculture startups<\/p>\n
For OCP, leveraging technology to benefit farmers can make or break the success of startups\u2019 ability to improve Africa\u2019s agriculture.<\/p>\n
Mehdi Filali, OCP Africa\u2019s Director of Development notes that by 2030, nearly all of Africa\u2019s farmers will have access to the internet, adding that that\u2019s when startups can come in.<\/p>\n
\u201cStartups can work to bring complete solutions,\u201d he said. \u201cThey can take knowledge from universities and academies and develop solutions.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite this, there are still challenges facing startups in the continent, particularly in the agriculture sector. The attending OCP official noted that startups will have to solve several problems facing farmers on the ground in order to give them the value they need.<\/p>\n
To this end, entrepreneurs can aim to provide farmers with better access to fertilizer and good quality seeds, which are often essential for good yields.<\/p>\n
Additionally, projects that provide farmers with training and knowledge in fields like water management and fertilizer applications can also provide substantial benefits, as technical know-how is often listed as one of the things lacking in Africa.<\/p>\n
Finally, startups have to provide farmers with access to markets, allowing them to provide products for a good enough price, at the right time to incentivize further production.<\/p>\n
UM6P\u2019s startup efforts
\nFilali notes that in order to achieve this, proofs of concept have to be scaled accordingly and made into concrete startups, calling attention to support programs such as the ones UM6P offers as valuable efforts.<\/p>\n
Through its capital venture investment arm and a pan-African vision, UM6P has recently boosted efforts to invest in Moroccan and African startups.<\/p>\n
In March, UM6P Ventures invested in Atarec, a Moroccan renewable energy startup. Additionally, the university continues to support startups on the continent through programs like Startgate which provide facilities and support for startups looking to achieve growth.<\/p>\n
\u201cUM6P, of course, through its venturing and entrepreneurship departments is trying to contribute at least to positioning Morocco and Africa at the forefront of technology,\u201d UM6P\u2019s Director of Entrepreneurship and Venturing Yassine Laghzioui told Morocco World News.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost agree that African potential growth is just huge, with great potential for the startup ecosystem,\u201d he emphasized.<\/p>\n
He added that startups have the potential to address some of the continent\u2019s most pressing issues, such as food security, youth employment, and exploitation of natural resources.<\/p>\n
\u201cNumbers don\u2019t lie, because during the last years, the total funding for startups increased exponentially,\u201d he noted. \u201cIn 2021, it was more than 5 billion [US dollars] which was more than 20 times the figure of 2015.\u201d<\/p>\n
The university has additionally launched a startup incubator focused on agricultural solutions earlier this year, under the name \u201cAgriFood Tech,\u201d emphasizing the need for food security solutions in Africa.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Improving the entrepreneurial culture on the continent and leveraging technology emerged as the two most important challenges facing African startups.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12963,"featured_media":12476,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,21],"tags":[7,26,22],"class_list":{"0":"post-12479","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"category-technology","9":"tag-apie-project","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-technology"},"yoast_head":"\n