Angel investing has seen ‘phenomenal growth’ in Africa says SABAN co-founder

Angel investing on the African continent has seen “phenomenal growth” in recent years, SA Business Angels Network (SABAN) co-founder Chris Campbell said today.

He was speaking to Ventureburn ahead of the fourth annual African Angel Investor Summit (AAIS2017) set to take place on 15 to 17 November at Workshop 17 in Cape Town.

Campbell said while he didn’t have numbers in front of him to point to, he said he had anecdotally seen “phenomenal growth”, with African Business Angels Network (ABAN) membership now at 63 angel groups, up from perhaps fewer than 10 such groups four years ago.

He attributed the growth in angel investing on the continent to being part of a global rise in angel investing following the 2008 Global Financial Crisis, when bank funding dried up.

The event, which is organised by the African Business Angels Network (Aban), the SA Business Angels Network (Saban) and VC4Africa, aims to bring investors and those in the angel investing sector together to discuss trends, best practice and regulatory issues. Campbell expects about 200 attendees for event.

‘African Business Angels Network membership is now at 63 angel groups, up from perhaps fewer than 10 four years ago’

Speakers include among others Baybars Altuntas from the World Business Angels Investment Forum, iDEA Nigeria’s Helen Anatogu, Village Capital’s Adedana Ashebir, Rising Tide’s Isabelle de Melo, Newtown Partners’ Llew Claasen, Silvertree Capital’s Paul Cook and Knife Capital’s Keet van Zyl and Andrea Böhmert, 4Di Capital’s Justin Stanford.

The event’s web page says this year’s event partners with XL Africa, the first post seed stage pan-African acceleration programme made possible by InfoDev at the World Bank.

“Sourcing the best digital innovators from across the continent, the XL Africa team will introduce 20 companies ready for Series A funding and poised for global success,” says the site.

The conference will also include a tour which aims to provide those attending with an introduction to Cape Town’s tech ecosystem and with access to the entrepreneurs and leaders building the sector, while being spending a day being hosted by industry experts who are embedded in the community.