Africa-Press – Ghana. A $69 million (CFA 40 billion) innovation fund has been unveiled to support DeepTech ventures in Francophone Africa, with backing from the African Intellectual Property Organization (OAPI) and the African Guarantee Fund (AGF). Announced Monday in Yaoundé, Cameroon, the fund targets the financing of 1,000 innovation-driven projects over the next five years across OAPI’s 17 member countries.
The agreement sets up a financial and technical support system aimed at strengthening startups and SMEs in fields like artificial intelligence, biotechnology, advanced manufacturing, and clean energy. AGF will offer credit guarantees to improve access to bank loans, along with mentorship and commercialization assistance for patented innovations.
Denis Bohoussou, OAPI’s Director General, explained that the fund tackles long-standing issues in scaling African innovation. “Previous initiatives, such as the African Innovation Fund, had limitations. This new approach is comprehensive, combining financing, technical assistance, and industrial partnerships to create a sustainable ecosystem,” he told the Financial Times.
Under the agreement, OAPI will invest CFA 5 billion ($8.6 million) in AGF, becoming its second African shareholder after the African Development Bank (AfDB). AGF’s CEO, Jules Ngankam, welcomed the development, highlighting that most of the fund’s backers are non-African entities, including Denmark, France, Germany, and the U.S.
How the Fund Will Function
The initiative will focus on high-impact DeepTech projects, providing:
Guaranteed loans to mitigate lender risk.
Mentorship to guide startups through business development and growth.
Connections with manufacturers and investors to support startup growth.
Customized mentorship throughout the project lifecycle, from ideation to growth.
The first application call is anticipated for Q3 2025, aiming to target 200 projects in its first year.
Africa’s Innovation Ecosystem
The launch arrives at a time when African countries face challenges in converting research into market-ready products. As reported in the 2024 Global Innovation Index (GII), Mauritius (30.5), Morocco (28.8), and South Africa (28.3) lead the continent in innovation output. South Africa also outpaces other countries in patent filings, recording 5,221 applications last year, far surpassing Egypt and Nigeria. Nigeria ranked 12th in Africa and 113th globally, with a GII score of 17.1.
Experts believe the OAPI-AGF fund could play a crucial role in closing the innovation gap in Francophone Africa. Access to risk capital remains a significant challenge for DeepTech startups across the continent. If properly executed, the fund has the potential to spark a new wave of scalable solutions.
Despite its ambitions, the fund faces challenges such as bureaucratic delays and inconsistent banking infrastructure across OAPI’s member states, including Senegal, Ivory Coast, and Cameroon. Analysts suggest that its success will depend on efficient fund disbursement and effective public-private coordination.
For now, the initiative reflects increasing institutional interest in Africa’s DeepTech potential—provided the funding reaches the right innovators.
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