Being highly involved in the entrepreneurial ecosystem across Africa, I have worked closely with many different startups and accelerators. My journey as a mentor started with a simple desire to share knowledge and experience with the next generation of African entrepreneurs.
This passion has developed over the years into a commitment toward fostering a strong startup culture on the continent that equips entrepreneurs with the ability to build sustainable and impactful businesses.
I have collaborated with various hubs, including the Stanford Seed program at Stanford Business School, Restoration Factory with Anza Entrepreneurs and Bridge for Billions, Venture Capitalist for Africa (VC4A), Cube Zanzibar, and Rlabs.
The Early Days: Learning to Mentor
My foray into mentorship was exciting and challenging. It soon dawned on me that being a mentor was not just about giving advice; it took an ingrained understanding of each startup’s unique challenges. My background in civil engineering and leadership consulting provided a good foundation, but I would soon learn to work differently with startups.
Most African startups exist in relatively insecure environments with limited resources and infrastructure. That would only mean, as a mentor, adjusting those realities by learning the knack to provide practical, relevant guidance. It needed to go beyond the theoretical know-how, diving deep into the everyday struggles of founders— navigating regulatory hurdles, securing funding, or even building a team.
Understanding the African Entrepreneurial Landscape
The most gratifying experience in my engagement has been meeting different startups from the agricultural and forestry sectors to the technological and creative industries. Every sector has challenges and opportunities; as a mentor, I have tried to be even more discriminative with each of these startups in different ways.
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Particular focus areas include challenges around supply chain management, access to markets, and the use of technology in agricultural startups. Tech startups commonly face scaling up innovations and securing investment. Knowing these differences has helped in mentorship.
Besides, one can’t ignore the socio-economic context in which this nurturing of startups occurs. Many African entrepreneurs are propelled by an urge to solve pressing social problems and access to education, health, or clean energy. This mission orientation demands from a mentor not only business acumen but also a championship of social impact.
Key Lessons from Mentoring
Through my work in various programs, be it the Stanford Seed program under Stanford Business School, Restoration Factory under Anza Entrepreneurs and Bridge for Billions, Venture Capitalist for Africa-VC4A, Cube Zanzibar and Rlabs, I have picked several vital lessons that have influenced my approach toward mentorship.
- Empathy is Key: No trait can be more valuable in a mentor than empathy. It entails putting themselves in the founders’ shoes to understand their problems firsthand. Most entrepreneurs, particularly during the early stages, struggle with self-doubt, burnout, and the pressures of balancing business with personal life. Understanding that such empathy fosters makes the presence of a mentor very supportive.
- Practicality Over Theory: As much as theoretical input is excellent, a startup needs hands-on, actionable advice. This may range from helping a founder finesse his pitch to insight into market trends. I find the best mentorship to be hands-on, involving real, tangible problem-solving rather than abstract, ethereal discussions.
- The Power of Networks: One of the most valuable things a mentor can bring into a relationship is his network. For many startups, and perhaps more so in Africa, networking is critical to making things happen. Whether it’s introductions to potential investors, partners, or other entrepreneurs, networks open doors that may otherwise remain shut.
- Adaptability is Key: The startup space is in constant flux, and what works today may not necessarily work tomorrow. As a mentor, keeping with the pulse of industry trends—sometimes having to adapt advice in response—is very important. This also means encouraging startups to remain flexible and responsive to environmental changes.
- Building Resilience: From the perspective of a startup, there is bound to be a period of failure: a failed product launch, the loss of an investor, or market changes that have not been factored into operations. The role of mentoring goes beyond just celebrating successes and helps the founders build resilience from their failures. Encouraging a growth mindset where challenges are seen as opportunities for learning has been a critical part of my mentorship approach.
What African Startup Hubs Need to Do to Enhance Their Impact?
While impressive progress has been made in many ways, substantial gaps remain in the African startup ecosystem, with much work to give startups the best opportunity for success. Startup hubs are very important within this ecosystem; here are ways in which they can further strengthen their impacts:
- Contextualize Support: Startup hubs in Africa must recognize that startups face unique challenges. The concept, therefore, calls for a move away from one-size-fits-all solutions as it addresses support appropriately to benefit African entrepreneurs. Whether training programs touch on the local market dynamics or give access to resources at region-specific levels, anchoring a startup hub in the local context is important.
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“The moment these startup hubs in Africa start replicating the Silicon Valley model of operation, that might just mark the beginning of a possibly disastrous path our startups have placed themselves on. As much as Silicon Valley has been an undisputed success story, its model is deeply rooted in a unique set of circumstances barely replicable in the African context. All these factors make the environment very different regarding policies, availability of angel investors, funding opportunities, and involvement of key stakeholders.”
- Develop Stronger Partnerships: Collaboration lies at the heart of every good startup ecosystem. Hubs are encouraged to partner with universities, corporations, government agencies, and international organizations. This will unlock new markets, funding opportunities, and startup expertise. Additionally, such collaboration will ensure a sense of community among startups within the hub, creating an avenue for peer-to-peer learning and sharing of resources.
- Improve Access to Finance: Access to finance remains one of the main constraining factors for African startups. Although the recent boom in venture capital activities on the continent is something to be welcomed, many startups cannot attract the necessary investment to achieve scale. Entrepreneurial hubs can make a big difference in matching startups with investors and, very importantly, training startups on investment readiness and guiding them through fundraising.
In 2022, Tanzanian startups secured USD 80.575 million in funding, with the fintech sector dominating by capturing 52.3%. Despite this progress, the Tanzanian startup ecosystem faces underfunding challenges, as 61.25% of startups could not obtain funding in 2022. However, this marks a notable improvement compared to 2021, when 86% of startups struggled to secure financial backing. — Tanzania Startup Ecosystem Status Report 2023
- Long-Term Mentorship: Long-term mentorship is lacking beyond the short-term acceleration programs, generally three to six months in duration. In most instances, startup growth requires an increasing set of challenges; therefore, for such needs, it is worth having mentorship programs that can provide actual, continued guidance and support throughout the startup’s LIFE cycle.
According to a Small Firms Enterprise Development Initiative study, 70% of small business owners who receive mentorship successfully navigate their first five years, twice as many as those without mentoring.
- Embed Social Impact in Business Models: Most African entrepreneurship ventures are driven by a desire to create social impact. Startup hubs should encourage and support these startups in developing business models that will contribute to profit while demonstrating mechanisms for addressing social and environmental problems. This may be pursued through workshops, mentorship, and access to impact investors interested in funding socially responsible businesses.
- Leverage Technology and Digital Tools: Technology is a huge enabler for any startup in the modern digital age. Hubs should invest in ensuring access to state-of-the-art digital tools and technologies, enabling startups to innovate and scale. This includes cloud computing, AI, e-commerce platforms, and digital marketing tools. Besides, training on the effective use of such technologies can give startups a competitive edge.
- Encourage Resilience and Adaptability: The entrepreneurial journey is hard, and startups must be resilient and agile enough to cope with changes that come their way. Resilience-building should be inculcated into the programs that hubs organize, teaching startups the art of pivoting, crisis management, and learning from failure. This can be through workshops on crisis management, financial planning, and mental health support.
- Encourage Inclusion and Diversity: An inclusive and diverse startup system would add colour to its vibrancy. Therefore, underrepresented groups must be encouraged to become involved—encouragement directed toward women, youth, and marginalized communities. The hubs must ensure that entrepreneurs are given equal opportunities and resources to rise and that all forms of diverse voices are valued and listened to with equal importance.
READ: How Are African Women Pioneering the Entrepreneurial Spirit Across the Continent?
The report shows that 76.6% of startups are owned by men, 17.2% by women, and 6.3% are co-owned. This gender disparity underscores the importance of creating a more diverse and inclusive startup ecosystem, as varied representation drives innovation and brings new perspectives. – Tanzania Startup Ecosystem Status Report 2023
What Next?
The role of a mentor has taught me that the startup ecosystem, with its full potential, fills Africa. The entrepreneurs I have been privileged to work with are passionate, innovative, and moved by a deep-seated need to make a difference. But if this potential is to be genuinely harvested, then we must ensure that the startup hubs across the continent can give the proper support.
With their emphasis on contextual support, partnership-making, access to finance, and long-term mentorship, African startup hubs are uniquely positioned to shape a new future for entrepreneurship across the continent. This, in addition, is how we build an inclusive, technology-driven, and resilient startup ecosystem that can perform better and deliver accurate, long-lasting social and economic change.
I am committed to continuing my work with startups across Africa, sharing my knowledge, and learning from the incredible entrepreneurs building the businesses of tomorrow. By working together- mentors, hubs, investors, and entrepreneurs- we can create a better future for Africa, one startup at a time.