A deal to establish the “Algeria Innovation Funds”, worth 80 million dollars or 11 billion dinars, was signed on Wednesday in Algiers by the Algerian public start-up accelerator Algeria-Venture and the international fund Small Enterprise Assistance Funds (SEAF).
The agreement was signed in the presence of the Minister of Knowledge Economy, Startups, and Micro-enterprises, Yacine El-Mahdi Oualid, by the CEO of Algeria-Venture, Sid Ali Zerrouki, and the Director of Investments of SEAF, Hubertus van der Vaart.
In conformity with Algeria’s legal framework, this agreement enables the creation of an Algerian Innovation Fund as an investment organisation.
Speaking on the sidelines of this agreement’s signing, Mr. Oualid stated that “SEAF is one of the most significant investment funds in the world that is particularly interested in emerging economies,” adding that “the planned investment in this agreement signed with Algeria-Venture for the creation of Algeria Innovation Funds is to the tune of 80 million dollars.”
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He elaborated, mentioning that the goal of his department and of Algeria-Venture is “to capture foreign capital, in particular for the financing of companies which have a strong potential for international growth.” “60 million dollars will be reserved for the financing of startups in Algeria, while the remaining 20 million dollars will be dedicated to financing the expansion of these startups internationally,” he said.
The Minister further clarified that the goal of this agreement is “above all to access through the SEAF network, the networks of different countries and quality support, in particular from experts from the four corners of the world,” with the hope that “cooperation with the United States and with SEAF will develop further and benefit the greatest number of Algerian startups.”
Mr. Van der Vaart stated in his speech that he had observed “a growing dynamic in the Algerian entrepreneurial ecosystem, with a significant potential of talents and skills in the field of engineering and technologies, which aspires to grow rapidly to show what Algerians are capable of” for the past two years, since the establishment of the Ministry of the Knowledge Economy and Startups.
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Along with expressing pride in the deal he had signed with Algeria Venture and the ministry, the president of the American fund expressed his wish that it “will continue with strong cooperation between the two sides.”
According to Mr. Zerrouki, this convention would “represent a qualitative leap to improve the role of startups in national economic development” and “a big leap forward in the operation of attracting international investment to startups in Algeria, in many fields with strong growth potential.”
Being present in more than 30 nations worldwide and having more than 32 years of expertise in the industry, SEAF is one of the biggest investment fund managers in the world.
Algeria Innovation Fund Algeria Innovation Fund
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer, who has several years of experience working in Africa’s burgeoning tech startup industry. He has closed multi-million dollar deals bordering on venture capital, private equity, intellectual property (trademark, patent or design, etc.), mergers and acquisitions, in countries such as in the Delaware, New York, UK, Singapore, British Virgin Islands, South Africa, Nigeria etc. He’s also a corporate governance and cross-border data privacy and tax expert.
As an award-winning writer and researcher, he is passionate about telling the African startup story, and is one of the continent’s pioneers in this regard