Swiss emerging market startup competition Seedstars World has partnered with the African Development Bank (AfDB) to add a job creation track to its pitching events.
The AfDB said in a statement on its website last Wednesday (23 October) that the partnership is in line with the development bank’s entrepreneurship and innovation lab under its Jobs for Youth in Africa (JfYA) strategy.
No ad to show here.
Through the strategy, the AfDB aims to create 25 million jobs and to equip young people with skills that will enhance their employability and entrepreneurial success by 2025.
The AfDB will also now be the main partner of Seedstars World’s local and Africa Summit bootcamps
The AfDB said the strategy will support countries to stimulate entrepreneurship, youth unemployment and economic development with a focus on young women.
Seedstars said in an email to Ventureburn yesterday that the main goal of the AfDB Job Creation Track is to find and reward the startups with the greatest potential to create jobs, support the youth and impact their local ecosystems.
The AfDB will select and award the startup demonstrating the most potential for sustainable creation with three months’ access to the Seedstars investment readiness programme.
The development bank will also be the main partner for Seedstars’ remaining local bootcamps, as well as at the two-day private bootcamp during the Seedstars Africa Summit — which will be held in Johannesburg between 2 and 5 December — with an emphasis on improving gender balance across all activities.
JfYA coordinator Tapera Jefffrey Muzira said in the same statement that the initiative will jump-start Africa’s encouragement of youth involvement in business enterprise and job creation.
“This partnership between the AfDB and Seedstars World is an electrifying component of the bank’s continuing commitment to sustainable job creation for women and young people across the continent,” added Muzira.
Featured image: Participants at a Seedstars event (Supplied)
