Abidjan based Janngo Capital is looking to invest $60m into African women-led startups, helping to bridge the gender gap in local ventures.
The VC led by Senegalese Fatoumata Ba has already raised $16.5m, a step towards $60m by Q1 2020. Janngo plans 50% of the funds to finance women-led startups founded or co-founded by women.
Fatoumata Ba intends to deploy capital from seed through the growth stage. Besides, she intends to help founders pilot and re-risk their business models.
“This is critical and was an essential part of my motivation to take a leap of faith and become an investor myself,” Said Ba.
While Africa is leading in the number of women engaging in entrepreneurship, there’s still a big gender gap in funding.
According to an AfDB report, Africa has a gender funding gap of $42 billion. Moreover, women still remain underrepresented in the founding and leading of startups in Africa.
This gap is striking given that research shows that African Women are the most entrepreneurial in the world.
Ba follows into the footsteps of others who took matters into their own hands to empower female founders. Last year, Alitheaia capital launched a fund targeting $75m to $100m for women entrepreneurs.
Gender balanced business and tech ecosystems, including in VC provide a better chance for strong returns.
“These expanded networks give rise to more opportunities that increase the quality of deal flow and opportunities to make strong returns, particularly in Africa where the diamonds in the rough are not easily noticeable.” Barbara Iyayi, a fintech growth equity investor told Quartz
