On the 14th of December 2022, ATBN, in the framework of AfriConEU Networking Academy, hosted an online Webinar about alternative funding sources for digital innovation.

The Webinar’s aim was to highlight non-traditional funding sources available to digital innovators in Africa because access to funds has been a major challenge.

The event started off with Eunice Baguma-Ball, Digital & Gender Inclusion Consultant from ATBN, who introduced ATBN and the AfriConEU project to the participants. The speaker of the webinar was Angie Madara, Founding GP at Athena Fund.

Angie Madara presented a Slideshare on “Alternative Funding Sources in Africa”. She started by stating that “the African economy is evolving and thriving”, so she gave some useful advice to the African entrepreneurs. In particular, she underlined that they shouldn’t rush to fundraise, they should get as much as possible from the little they have and exploit their connections and network.

Afterward, she analyzed specific examples of funding sources and financial mechanisms, such as grants, incubators & accelerators, and challenges & competitions. Furthermore, Angie Madara elaborated on these topics by showcasing their pros and cons, as well as the main funders of each category. She also pointed up three crowdfunding methods. More specifically, she gave emphasis to “crowd lending”, “revenue-based funding”, and “crowdfunding – equity”. 

In the last part of the webinar, the participants were divided into focus groups, they exchanged ideas and experiences and came up with interesting questions that they posed to the main speaker. The meaning of this interactive part was that every business should have a clear vision in order to choose the best funding option.

You can find more details about the event on our Twitter.