Algerian Start-up Fund and Other Stakeholders Agree to Support Startups in the Various Provinces with $411M
Algerian Startup Fund, (ASF) has signed an agreement with the Algerian General Directorate of the Treasury and the accountant general’s office for the exploitation of the country’s regional (wilaya) investment funds, which have a combined value of about $411 million, for the benefit of young entrepreneurs across all provinces (wilayas), as part of the implementation of the Government’s Action Plan, according to the Algerian ministry responsible for the knowledge economy and securing the future and as reported by Afrikan Heroes.
According to Okba Hanachi, the new director of the Algerian Startup Fund, the investment funds are worth a total of $411 million, or $7 million for each region.
He emphasized that the Startup Fund will have access to these funds “for startup investment, with the financing of up to $1 million per project.”
“The National Fund for Financing Startups launched this new phase – the first of its kind in Algeria – to improve the nation’s ecosystem of entrepreneurship and innovation,” Hanachi added.
Abdelmadjid Tebboune, the President of the Republic of Algeria launched the Algerian Startup Fund (ASF) in October 2020 during the first edition of “ALGERIA DISRUPT.”
By utilizing venture capital as a new method of financing startups, the fund will enable entrepreneurs of innovative projects to launch their businesses without the bureaucratic constraints of traditional financing mechanisms.
The ASF claims to have funded several initiatives dubbed “Startup” or “Innovative Projects” since its inception and encourages the funding of companies and their startup costs, as well as the potential dangers they may face. The ASF’s capital is $8.5 million.
Algeria’s startup ecosystem has recently seen an increase in activity, particularly in light of reforms and new legal frameworks, and as a result of this agreement, the fund will be able to raise the necessary investments.
The Algerian Minister of Startups as the Catalyst
Yacine Oualid’s appointment as Algeria’s new Minister of Startups — a newly created ministry under the administration of newly elected President Abdelmadjid Tebboune — on January 02, 2020, has proven to be very instrumental in the country’s ongoing revolution in the startup ecosystem.
Oualid, who studied at the University of Sidi Bel Abbès’ Faculty of Medicine, founded SSH, a company specializing in cloud solutions for businesses that would later become Algeria’s first private web host in 2016. In 2019, he and his partner founded Smart Ways3, a logistics and geolocation startup. In December of the same year, he founded Bright Solutions, a leading IT company based in England that provides IT solutions and services.
“To summarize, the New World Economy is taking shape, and Algeria wishes and intends to become a major player.” “My goal, along with all the players in the sector, is to participate in the transformation of Africa’s largest country,” Yacine stated upon taking office.
“In a more practical way, my role is, first of all, to set up a legal framework that is favorable to startups. Once set up, this legal framework will facilitate the creation of startups and their financing. The goal is to see, in a few months, Algerian champions, who will be able to offer their services all over the world. Algeria is determined to become an African pillar of innovation and we want to offer our entrepreneurs the best framework for entrepreneurship and innovation,” he added.
Apart from influencing the enactment of startup-friendly policies, Oualid has been instrumental in the North African country’s activism against ‘bad regulations’ against startups. For example, his intervention ensured that Moov Services, Algeria’s first taxi service solely for women, re-opened its doors just three months after its activities were banned in Blida, Algeria’s northwestern province.