Excerpted story from Generation1.ca’s AfroRise2050 Fellowship’s inaugural publication Our Dreams for Africa, envisioning diverse pathways to a stronger Africa by 2050 and beyond. Be on the lookout for the entire anthology!
By Godfrey Cheche
Africa faces unique and clear economic challenges due to several key factors that have led to the lowest unemployment rates in the globe. These factors include lack of innovation, access to human capital, lack of finance and alienation from the global economy due to global politics and world order. Entrepreneurship is the key driver to improving living standards of Africans and the contribution of the continent in being part of innovation that drives quality of human life across the globe. Africa lags behind in entrepreneurship and the culture of innovation while global startup hubs thrive on risk-taking, experimentation, and investor confidence, Africa continues to lag behind in building an environment where innovation can flourish. This presents an opportunity for startups to spearhead Africa’s economic growth and development.
My vision for Kenya and Africa is to build a culture of innovation, embrace the risks in entrepreneurship and build a reputation as a hub for start-up success where investors are confident to generate return on their investments. Numbers already point out untapped potential. According to IFC – International Finance Corporation more than 600,000 formal firms and 40 million micro businesses in Africa could digitize tasks such as accounting, supply chain or payments. This allows businesses to focus on growth and job creation. In another scenario 90% of retail sales come from informal vendors, existing supply chains are fragmented and not set up to properly serve these businesses. My vision is that the next wave of Africa’s economic growth will come from bridging these gaps by creating digital solutions tailored to informal markets and enabling businesses of all sizes to thrive in the digital age.
To achieve this, Africa needs both finance and human capital to drive the culture of innovation where citizens feel confident of the opportunities created by a vibrant eco – system. With education being a key driver to business growth, students and graduates can syngerize startup and innovation culture and investors willing and ready to provide access to finance and human capital.
As a Financial Economics graduate, Research Analyst, and User Experience Design student with experience in marketing data analytics, I bring a mix of analytical thinking, design creativity, and business insight. I have worked as a Marketing Data Analyst for global plans and have helped shape their investments in media advertising and marketing strategy. In addition I have worked as a researcher with Generation1.ca an organization that empowers immigrants with data and insights innovation. Added to this are interpersonal skills sharpened through soccer and personal
training, which have taught me teamwork, discipline, and resilience. Therefore we are building PitchBridge Network in a partnership with my collegaue Patience Agumba who is passionate and driven in seeking opportunities to address Africa’s challenges. Over the past 5+ years, Patience has built expertise at the intersection of law, technology, and business strategy, a unique combination that allows her to create solutions that are both legally sound and commercially viable. Her track record includes developing innovative frameworks and product solutions that enable businesses to scale across markets and jurisdictions. The action we are taking is to develop a comprehensive business plan, design the PitchBridge prototype, conduct business research, engage with relevant stakeholders and later enroll in a start-up incubator programme to access resources to test and launch the platform. We commit to advancing PitchBridge Network by completing its prototype, validating it with real users, and engaging with incubators and accelerators that can help bring it to life. Each milestone we reach will bring the platform closer to serving startups and investors meaningfully.
Society must invest intentionally in building an ecosystem of innovation. This means policymakers must support entrepreneurship, innovation , funding education that solves problems, and developing financial instruments tailored to early stage African businesses. If governments, investors and society align around this vision, Africa will rise and be part of addressing economic challenges across the globe.
Africa’s greatest untapped resource is not its minerals or land, it is its people. By building bridges between talent and capital, Africa can greatly contribute to innovation by 2050. Through PitchBridge, we commit to building part of that bridge. Our vision is simple, a future where no African idea remains silent because of lack of access, and where the continent succeeds in global entrepreneurship.
