Infrastructure development and time are considered essential to investment interest on the African tech scene, investors told HumanIPO at the African Venture Capital Association (AVCA) Alpha conference in Cape Town.
According to Michelle Essomé, chief executive at AVCA, the lack of venture capital at startup stage is due to a need of support at infrastructure level as investors want to see the possibility of reward before agreeing to risk.
Speaking to HumanIPO, Essomé said the establishment of a mature Silicon Valley is estimated to take more than a decade.
“Maybe it’s 15 to 16 years, maybe it’s shorter,” she said.
“Investors willing to take the risk” is what is needed, she concluded.
This corresponds with the opinion of Alexandra Fraser, chairperson of Silicon Cape, who feels the venture capital landscape is still immature in South Africa.
Fraser, also a business developer at Invenfin, thinks the venture capital landscape will be mature within 30 years.
Andrea Böhmert, partner at Knife Capital, believes it will take five to eight years for bigger invest interest in African technology.
She explained investors are scared to invest in a country with “backlogs” such as infrastructure.
Anthony Siwawa, managing director at Venture-P in Botswana (VPB), agreed that infrastructure is a great obstacle to investments in Africa.
“Events like AVCA [conference] are much needed,” Siwawa told HumanIPO. “There is no doubt that tech is big in Africa.”
However, logistical problems such as transport stand in the way of connecting with international role players.
HumanIPO reported yesterday on the perspective of William Jimmerson, executive director at Musa Capital, who claimed the success of tech in Africa is “real”.
