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Telecommunication companies are a very important part of the startup ecosystem because a large number of startups provide their products and services via the mobile and internet networks that are mainly run by them. In addition, some startups need the customer base that operators have to gain popularity. For example, in 2016, the solar start-up M-KOPA signed an agreement with Safaricom in Kenya, which implied that the telephone companies stock the start-up's solar televisions in its outlets. . On the other hand, telecom companies also need startups to stay innovative and competitive.
In West Africa, telecommunications companies support startups in a variety of ways, some of which include partnerships, training, and financing. Although the fundraising activity is relatively small, we are looking at some telecom companies that are investing in and supporting West African start-ups
Orange Group
Orange Group launches a $ 56 million fund US Dollars African Startups in 2017. The fund is managed by the team Orange Digital Ventures which was launched in 2015 . The Africa fund is aimed at start-up start-ups in the areas of new connectivity, fintech, internet of things (IoT), energy and health online. A team dedicated to Orange Digital Ventures Africa was also created in Dakar, Senegal. Here is what Marième Diop VC Investor at Orange Digital Ventures Africa said : "We opened our offices in West Africa because we know that it there is incredible potential in this region, and we certainly want to tap into the West African francophone. " Up to now, the Africa Fund has not yet been able to do so. invested that in Africa's Talking Kenya. Before launching the Africa Fund, Orange Digital Ventures acquired a $ 88 million stake in the Jumia group in 2016.
Before the Africa fund, Orange already had an accelerator initiative and hub called Orange Fab in [19659002] Cote d 'Ivoire Cameroon and Senegal . Orange is also one of the partners supporting the first incubator / hub in Senegal, ICTC Dakar . In addition, Orange Niger helped to establish the incubator CIPMEN in the country.
MTN Group
In 2016, MTN participated in a $ 351 million financing round in the Nigerian e-commerce group Jumia. Herman Singh, Chief Digital Officer of MTN Group, said at the time that Jumia would help strengthen its digital offering and is committed to supporting the company through its market knowledge. In partnership with the federal government, MTN launched the Student Innovation Challenge in Nigeria for startups founded by students from higher education institutions. The group's goal is to give about 50 finalists to the 1 million naira challenge ($ 2,780) each in seed funding. MTN also has a pan-African business incubation program in partnership with the UCT Graduate School of Business (GSB).
In addition to the above, the MTN Entrepreneurship Challenge at the Jumia scale in 2016. The winner in 2016 was the Ghanaian health start-up MedRx that beat two other finalists, the Nigerian Pbad.ng and the Tanzanian Vicoba with the $ 25,000.
Vodafone Ghana
Overall, Vodafone's Institute launched the F-LANE accelerator that focuses on women-led technology startups in partnership with Impact Hub Berlin and Social Entrepreneurship Akademie. The accelerator is open to African founders and winners will receive approximately $ 14,000 in seed funding. Although it has an investment arm, Vodafone Ventures, it does not seem to have any funds focused on Africa.
In addition to funding, Vodafone also has partnerships with hubs and startups in Ghana. In 2015, IrokoTV announced a content partnership agreement with Vodafone Ghana which allowed it to offer content to Vodafone subscribers for a nominal fee (US $ 6 per month for more than 4 000 films). Vodafone Ghana is also a partner with MEST Ghana organizing events for developers, providing market access and fund development opportunities to startups.
Airtel Nigeria
In 2015, Airtel announced the Singtel / Airtel Accelerator Challenge a competition for application developers in Africa and Asia. The goal was to identify consumer-oriented mobile apps in the region. In the same year, he also held the Catapult-a-Startup Challenge which saw seven startups earn 1 million naira each. The winning startups were Chopup Games Yuzah Sonbim Games Matchup, Blubird, Pbad.ng and PushCV . Airtel does not appear to have pursued any of these initiatives since 2015.
In addition, Airtel entered into a partnership with the Ghana Fintech start-up, Zeepay and the Ashanti Regional Agricultural District in 2015 to use Airtel Money to increase financial inclusion among small farmers. The district will use the Zeepay and Airtel Money platform to register about 100,000 farmers to support the dissemination of information as part of its digital agriculture project.
Moov / Etisalat
Before leaving the Nigerian market, Etisalat Nigeria for Innovation, the Etisalat Award for Innovation founded in 2012. There were two categories of prizes with different prizes: (i) Most Innovative Product / Service ($ 25,000) and (ii) Most Innovative Idea ($ 10,000). Past recipients include Helium Healthcare (formerly One Medical), Genii Games and Aloli Dresses . The last prize Etisalat Prize for Innovation took place in 2016 but the new entity 9Mobile has since called for new entries for 2018.
Thanks to EasyBusiness Millionaires Hunt, Etisalat formed contractors in Nigeria donated 40 million naira (about $ 111,000) in grants in 2016.
Tigo / Millicom
In 2014, Tigo's Think Incubator invested ] in four startups including the Nigerian building materials market, CribPark (appears to be currently inactive). The startups each received $ 15,000 each for a 10% equity. The telephone company also launched a $ 10 million fund in 2014 targeting digital innovators in emerging markets, including Africa, which will be managed by the Millicom Foundation.
Globacom
Although Globacom does not have a specific initiative targeting technology entrepreneurs, in 1965 announced a five-year partnership with small and medium enterprises. Nigeria Business Development Agency (SMEDAN) to support 17 million small and medium-sized business owners in the country. Through this partnership, Glo will provide SMEs with access to grants, soft loans and capacity training programs. Globacom's optical fiber network was also a major badet for the country's ICT infrastructure
Conclusion
The Orange group and the MTN group are the largest and most active Western technological entrepreneurs. Africa like now. The other phone companies have little or no activity or have become inactive by funding technology entrepreneurs in the area. As pointed out Aubrey Hruby in this article "African companies need the most modern technology to compete in global markets and local startups can contribute to it. "To be competitive on the world stage, African conglomerates must harness the innovation, technology and country knowledge of these start-ups through investment . " It will be interesting to see more venture capital companies Group because it benefits not only startups but the organizations themselves.
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