Business support program shows entrepreneurs keen on growth

79 ventures recruited from a pool of 864 applicants from across five countries – Uganda, Kenya, Ghana, Ethiopia and Zambia – have revealed that entrepreneurs are more vulnerable and willing to learn how to advance their business ventures and grow them exponentially.

The 79 ventures are part of the GrowthAfrica Accelerator programme, an intensive tailormade programme to help them understand, analyse elevate, and to implement strategies that will support the growth of their businesses. Interaction with the ventures showcased that, compared to pre-Covid period, they are more determined and open to embrace strategies they know will positively impact their business, to operate in a sustainable way.

“We are kicking off this programme with renewed energy. From the recruitment to the rollout, the entrepreneurs’ eagerness to learn and grow has been notable compared to the previous cohorts we have had in the past. This shift in attitude can be attributed to the lessons drawn from the Covid-19 pandemic, which made us more deliberate and open when presented with opportunities,” said Patricia Jumi, Executive Director and Co-Founder, GrowthAfrica.

Africa faces unemployment challenges and is suffering from the high cost of living. To mitigate these, the population, especially the youth, are moving toward setting up their own businesses to make a living. A white paper by African Development Bank (AfDB) Entrepreneurship and Free Trade: Africa’s Catalysts for a New Era of Economic Prosperity, explains that entrepreneurship must be at the heart of efforts to transform Africa’s economic prospects. They report that 22% of Africa’s working-age population are starting businesses, which is the highest rate of any region in the world.

“The ventures in this 2022 cohort are promising. They come from five different countries and naturally come with different experiences and expertise. Through their interaction with their peers and programme facilitators, we are optimistic that the experience within this programme will be worthwhile as we move together to address global issues such as sustainability, unemployment, and gender parity,” said Patricia. 

GrowthAfrica Accelerator is tailored to help ventures scale their profitability as a business and make it investment ready while developing their business and leadership acumen. Through this, our entrepreneurs build a thorough understanding of all components of their business venture, internal and external realities, and their interdependencies – identifying challenges to growth and using this to develop a comprehensive, implementation-ready growth plan.