AfricArena signs up AFD subsidiary Proparco as strategic partner, sponsor

Tech startup conference AfricArena has signed up Proparco — a development finance institution partly owned by the French Development Agency (AFD) — as a strategic partner and sponsor.

In a statement announcing the partnership last week, Proparco regional head for Southern Africa and the Indian Ocean Siby Diabira said the institution’s interest in the African startup ecosystem “reached a new level” this year with the creation of a division committed to investing in innovative, impactful and scalable startups alongside investments in venture capital (VC) funds.

AfricArena 2018 is set to take place on 15 and 16 November in Cape Town

“We believe that AfricArena, as a dedicated platform, will allow investors such as Proparco to further accelerate their support to the many entrepreneurs bringing African-born solutions to local and global problems. We look forward to working with AfricArena and its team,” added Diabira.

AfricArena 2018 will take place on 15 and 16 November and the organisers expect over 800 attendees at the conference.

AfricArena CEO Christophe Viarnaud said Proparco’s track record of investing in a number of Africa-focused VC firms, together with the institution’s investor network, will “further accelerate” AfricArena’s capacity to increase investment deal impact at this year’s conference.