MultiChoice will expand its Africa Accelerator Programme for 2023 to eight more countries in Africa.

Having started in South Africa in 2021, next year’s Programme will be rolled out in Ivory Coast, Senegal, Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Zambia, Angola and Ethiopia.

The Programme, which kicked off during the Global Entrepreneurship Week, seeks to provide the skills and opportunities required to attract transformative business funding.

It is targeted at established start-ups and small enterprises in specific technology sectors, including healthtech, agritech, fintech, edutech, the circular economy and the creative industries.

Calvo Mawela, MultiChoice Group CEO, said, “We’re really excited to be expanding the MultiChoice Africa Accelerator Programme to more African countries. It’s part of our long-term commitment to growing and multiplying Africa’s technology potential, which is critical to our future growth.”

“There is such incredible business talent across Africa,” said Mawela. “MultiChoice Africa Accelerator is an opportunity for investors and small enterprise to collaborate to multiply the impact of this talent and scale it across Africa.”

African Development Bank (AfDB) President Dr Akinwumi Adesina has previously noted that, “… the private sector is Africa’s growth accelerator”, and several African nations have backed small-business development as part of their economic strategy.”

The MultiChoice Africa Accelerator Programme is an initiative of the MultiChoice Innovation Fund, in collaboration with Dubai-based business incubator Companies Creating Change (C3), which gives entrepreneurs access to the tools, skills and financial support to grow their business.

MultiChoice has also partnered with tech services company EOH, which will add expertise, especially in terms of tech advisory, development sprint and technical support.

According to MultiChoice, the first phase of the Programme sees public and private-sector partners in each country nominating businesses or entrepreneurs for the programme. From there, 29 of the start-ups embark on an intensive virtual training course.

“The virtual training course takes place over several weeks, teaching start-up owners media skills, how best to market their businesses to investors, how to create attractive business plans, and to know what investors are looking for,” the company noted.

“Later, the entrepreneurs will come together at a finals event, where 11 start-ups will be selected for the final pitch phase. They will attend a dedicated C3 boot camp to learn how to shape their story for international investors, and to get “pitch ready” before their big presentations.”