The United Nations Development Programme, African governments and the private sector plan to raise US$1-billion (R18.2-billion) and open a string of technology hubs across the continent to boost start-up innovation.

The first of 10 hubs that will form part of the world’s largest initiative supporting Africa’s technology start-ups will open at UNDP’s innovation centre in Lagos, Nigeria, this week, the agency said in an e-mailed statement.

“It’s a key milestone in the journey towards sparking a start-up revolution on the continent,” said Ahunna Eziakonwa, assistant secretary-general and director of the UNDP Africa Bureau.

Other tech hubs to launch in 2024 include a Healthtech hub in Kigali, Rwanda, an Agritech hub in Accra, Ghana and a Minetech hub in Lusaka, Zambia, the UNDP said.

The hubs and the $1-billion facility, which will be raised from private and public institutions, will support more than 10 000 youth-led tech firms and start-ups across the continent’s economic sectors, it said.

Africa is home to the fastest-growing and most youthful population in the world, with tech-savvy youngsters increasingly using their mobile phones to bridge gaps in services.

This has opened a lucrative and fast-growing space in sectors such as finance, agriculture and healthcare for start-ups and has spawned so-called unicorns, or companies that have achieved a pre-market valuation of at least $1-billion, such as Interswitch, Flutterwave and Jumia Technologies.

Big boost

The initiative is a big boost for African technology and start-up firms after venture capital inflows plummeted last year. According to a report by London-based African Private Capital Association, they fell 31% in 2023 to $4.5-billion from a year earlier after investors abandoned African economies struggling with high inflation and weakening local currencies.

The hubs will be called Timbuktoo after Timbuktu in Mali that was once a world-renowned trade powerhouse, the UNDP said. The initiative has also started University Innovation Pods in 13 African cities as centres for research and development, “offering young innovators space to transform their ideas into viable products and profitable ventures”, the UN agency said. — (c) 2024 Bloomberg LP