Venture for Africa launches fellowship to link global talent with startups on continent

Newly launched global fellowship programme Venture for Africa has announced it has opened applications for its inaugural cohort, the Venture for Africa C19 Remote Fellowship.

Applications are now open and can be accessed through the organisation’s website. Interested candidates can find open roles ranging from marketing, to finance, to operations, data science and engineering, and apply online.

In a statement last week, the company said it aims to match skilled global talent with leading African tech startups through a three-month immersion programme.

Following the programme, fellows are fast-tracked through application processes for long-term open roles at participating startups.

Venture for Africa aims to match global talent with top African tech startups through a three-month immersion programme

Given the current Covid-19 environment, all fellowships for its first cohort will be remote. Startups participating in the first cohort include Kenyan startups Sokowatch, Turaco and OkHi.

Turaco announced it had netted investment in December (see this story), while Sokowatch in February revealed it had landed funding (see this story).

‘Born out of challenges we’ve seen in Africa’

The programme has been created by a team of former colleagues with deep experience in Africa’s tech startup space,

“Venture for Africa was really born out of conversations we’ve had again and again about the challenges startups in Africa face when it comes to filling talent gaps,” Venture for Africa co-founder Tobi Lafinhan (pictured above) said in the same statement.

“At the same time we’re all seeing these talented people in our networks in Africa and around the world who really want to break into the startup ecosystem, but struggle to find ways of getting a foot in the door.

“With the opportunities we’re seeing amid the Covid-19 crisis — including great talent suddenly finding themselves out of work – we realised now is the perfect time to make this happen,” said Lafinhan.

In the interest of filling roles as soon as possible, Venture for Africa and participating startups have committed to expedite normal application timelines and let candidates know whether they have been fast-tracked within two weeks of applying, with a goal of launching the programme by 1 June.

Featured image: Venture for Africa co-founder Tobi Lafinhan (Facebook)