France to pump 65 million euros into African startups by Staff Writers Paris (AFP) May 24, 2018 France will plough 65 million euros ($76 million) into startups in Africa, President Emmanuel Macron announced Thursday at a technology conference in Paris. Macron made the announcement at the third edition of the VivaTech trade fair, which brings together innovators, investors and entrepreneurs. This year VivaTech, which features speeches by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Uber boss Dara Khosrowshahi, has put a special focus on innovation in Africa's tiny but fast-growing startup scene. "African startups have energy but the big providers of development aid and financiers have not adapted to that. We ourselves are too slow, too hesitant," Macron, a passionate tech advocate, told the fair, which was attended by Rwandan President Paul Kagame. Macron said the French development agency AFD would set up a fund "to fill the gaps in the support with small sums ranging from 30,000 to 50,000 euros, which is what startups need." The AFD also aimed to bring other donors on board "to grow this initiative tenfold," Macron said. Entrepreneurs would be able to apply for funding through the AFD's Digital Africa platform, he said. The scheme will be launched in the coming weeks, Macron said. He did not give the duration of the project. France's young president has made entrepreneurship a cornerstone of his domestic economic policy as well as his overseas development strategy. During an African tour last year he touted innovation as a vehicle for growth and job creation. In a sign of the growing interest in technology on the continent with the world's youngest population, African startups raised some 477 million euros in 2017, up more than 50 percent in a year, according to an estimate by investment fund Partech Ventures. Despite the rise, the figure was only a small fraction of the estimated 20 billion euros raised by European startups in the same period. juj/cb/js/ri
Pay-backs to Africa from the Paris Agreement's temperature targets Beijing, China (SPX) May 22, 2018 Africa is arguably one of the regions most vulnerable to adverse impacts of climate change. With average temperatures in Africa rising faster than the global average causing increases in severity and frequency of extreme climate events, it is vital that future changes of these extremes be understood. However, projected changes of climate extremes in Africa remain little explored. Particularly in the context of the Paris Agreement's goal to limit global warming to below 2C and pursue efforts to fur ... read more
|
|
The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us. |