AFRICA – Village Capital, a venture capital firm, and Norad, the Norwegian development agency, have partnered to launch Empowering Sustainable Entrepreneurship Africa.
Empowering Sustainable Entrepreneurship Africa is an ecosystem-building program to strengthen the capacity and impact of Entrepreneur Support Organisations (ESOs) and climate-focused startups in Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, and Tanzania.
Village Capital has operated in Sub-Saharan Africa since 2012, running 14 accelerator programs and serving entrepreneurs in 15 countries.
Meanwhile, Norad works with partners worldwide to help achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
The Empowering Sustainable Entrepreneurship Africa initiative will adopt a dual-track approach. First, it will equip community-led ESOs with the technical expertise and resources necessary to foster sustainable growth within their organizations.
Secondly, directly supporting climate-focused ventures in the priority countries and cultivating a long-term pipeline of high-growth, investable startups advancing solutions in critical areas such as the blue economy, climate adaptation, food security, and renewable energy.
“ESOs play a crucial role in the entrepreneurial ecosystem, serving as the first line of support for entrepreneurs, acting as both trainer and convener of essential networks such as investors and talent, especially in emerging ecosystems,” said Rachel Crawford, who leads special projects at Village Capital.
“However, these same ESOs typically operate like the startups they support and often lack the final piece of the puzzle— capital to deploy directly to startups. Village Capital aims to address these three needs through our unique initiative design by leveraging ecosystem development, enterprise support, and catalytic capital.”
Fredrik Ilsaas Pharo, director of climate and environment at Norad, said his organization was excited to partner with Village Capital on Empowering Sustainable Entrepreneurship Africa. Entrepreneurs and startups with innovative ideas and services have an important role to play in contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals.
“Today, such actors often lack access to financing and technical support due to several barriers. We hope that by strengthening the entrepreneurial ecosystem through ESOs, some of these barriers will be overcome,” he said.
“This partnership is also exciting for us in that it is multi-sectoral, working on blue economy, renewable energy, food security, and climate adaptation to deliver the best possible total contribution to innovation and entrepreneurship in Africa.”
In March this year, Village Capital and Moody’s Foundation launched Greentech 2024: The Future of Sustainability, an investment-readiness accelerator.
In partnership with Moody’s, a global risk assessment firm that empowers organisations to make better decisions, Village Capital has launched Greentech 2024.
This initiative is designed to advance innovative and sustainable solutions, actively contributing to building resilience and mitigating the effects of climate change across Africa.
The program is part of a broader global effort running in Latin America and Asia as well that will support and scale startups working to address the effects of climate change by mitigating environmental damage, improving agricultural practices and nutrition, minimizing waste and pollution, preserving and protecting natural resources, and access to water, sanitation, and universal health.
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