Multimillion-dollar boost for small business as more African countries join MultiChoice Africa Accelerator Programme – African Business

Following the success of the MultiChoice (www.MultiChoice.com) Africa Accelerator (https://bit.ly/3OtthRzThe ) Program, which provided $16 million (USD), in funding for six emerging businesses last fiscal year, has been extended to eight additional countries in Africa.

Many more small businesses in Africa’s technology sector now have the chance to benefit from the 2023 programme, which provides the skills and opportunities needed to attract transformative business funding.

“We’re really excited to be expanding the MultiChoice Africa Accelerator Programme to more African countries,” said Calvo Mawela, MultiChoice Group CEO, announcing the launch. “It’s part of our long-term commitment to growing and multiplying Africa’s technology potential, which is critical to our future growth.”

The MultiChoice Africa Accelerator Programme, which kicked off during Global Entrepreneurship Week,  is aimed at established start-ups and small enterprises in specific technology sectors – healthtech, agritech, fintech, edutech, the circular economy and the creative industries.

“There is such incredible business talent across Africa,” said Mawela. “MultiChoice Africa Accelerator is an opportunity for investors and small enterprise to collaborate to multiply the impact of this talent and scale it across Africa.”

MultiChoice Africa Accelerator was established in South Africa in 2021. It is now expanding to Ivory Coast and Senegal, Nigeria. The initiative provides funding for emerging entrepreneurs and allows them to scale up their business.

Dr Akinwumi Adesina, president of African Development Bank, previously noted (https://bit.ly/3U0gRSu) that, “the private sector is Africa’s growth accelerator”, and severa (https://MSEA.go.ke) African (https://SMEDAN.gov.ng)  nations (http://www.DSBD.gov.za)  have backed small-business development as part of their economic strategy. These development goals are reflected in the MultiChoice Africa Accelerator.

MultiChoice Africa Accelerator Program is an initiative by the MultiChoice Innovation Fund in collaboration with Dubai-based Business Incubators Companies Creating Change (C3)https://www.WeGrowwithc3.com), which gives entrepreneurs access to the tools, skills and financial support to grow their business. MultiChoice also has partnered with EOH, which is a tech services company that will bring their expertise to help entrepreneurs in tech advisory, development sprint, and technical support.

The MultiChoice Africa Accelerator Programme’s first phase is where public and private sector partners from each country nominate businesses or entrepreneurs to the programme. 29 of the start ups then embark on an intensive online training course. The initiative targets established businesses looking to expand their operations and attract further investment.

“Start-up founders get to learn everything from how to properly research your business sector and your market, to how to create a niche for your business,” says Boitumelo Monageng, of Swypa, one of last year’s finalists. “During the workshops we were encouraged to dig deeper and I realised that we have the potential to compete on a much larger scale.”

The virtual training course covers several weeks and teaches start-up entrepreneurs media skills, how to best market their businesses to investors and how to create attractive business plan. It also reveals what investors are looking to learn.

Later, the entrepreneurs will gather at a finals event where 11 start-ups are selected for the final pitch phase. They will attend a dedicated C3 boot camp to learn how to shape their story for international investors, and to get “pitch ready” before their big presentations.

“We believe SMEs in the technology, sustainability and creative sectors will be fundamental to the next phase of Africa’s growth,” says Mawela. “The MultiChoice Africa Accelerator is geared to finding the most promising start-ups, and empowering them to play this critical role.”

Distributed by APO Group for MultiChoice Group

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MultiChoice Group Contact Details:
Elizabeth Ferreira, Corporate Communications
Tel: +27 83 482 5241
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