The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) yesterday launched a five-day boot camp for incubator managers aimed at strengthening their ability to support startups across Africa.
The initiative seeks to enhance the operational and programmatic capacity of incubators so they can deliver high-quality, standardised incubation support in line with timbuktoo’s continental innovation architecture.
Incubator managers are responsible for programmes that select startups, organise mentorship and training, and connect founders to markets and funding opportunities.
The boot camp brought together about 40 incubator managers and senior programme leads from across Africa under the Pan-African Incubation Network.
Speaking to the media in Accra on Monday, the Global Lead of timbuktoo said the initiative was designed as an end-to-end platform to connect fragmented incubation and acceleration programmes across Africa so that founders were not left adrift after demo days.
She explained that the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) would serve as a convening backbone rather than a replacement for existing programmes. She emphasised that UNDP would work with 500 global and other partners to co-create a core curriculum that could be adapted to suit local contexts.
The Global Lead emphasised the importance of founder-first journeys and interoperable standards across 37 countries. She also highlighted the need for sector-wide engines in agri-tech, health-tech, ed-tech, mining-tech, and manufacturing, noting that nearly all venture capital on the continent currently flows into fintech.
According to her, incubation programmes must build strong pipelines, explaining that roughly 100 ventures were required to produce one startup capable of scaling. She added that incubation models should incorporate policy engagement, impact measurement, financing realities, and sector-specific knowledge.
“We recognise for Africa that the issue about building businesses is that our enabling environment still requires some building. I think over time we will come up with a curriculum that really speaks to that,” she said.
She added that the long-term goal was to build strong pan-African networks, promote shared learning, and scale more than 1,000 startups under the timbuktoo initiative.
For her part, the Lead of Thematic Hubs, Mrs. Astria Fataki, said the real challenge was not judging the capacity of incubators but rather identifying the challenges they faced. She explained that teams operating in places such as Sudan or Somaliland often faced harsher operating environments than those in Kenya or Ghana.
As a result, she stated that timbuktoo was focusing on bridging gaps in technical and sector support, policy advocacy, and impact measurement.
“Usually the capacity is good, but the resources and the environment can be extremely challenging for some of those incubators,” she said.
Mrs. Fataki also noted that an AI-powered Seedstars platform would enable incubators to track impact and performance. She added that members of the network would be onboarded onto the platform by Friday, pursue timbuktoo certification, and gain access to financing opportunities.
“Basically, when it comes to providing general business development support, most incubators are well equipped,” she underscored.
She also highlighted the deliberate selection of incubators outside capital cities to reach entrepreneurs in rural areas. Mrs. Fataki indicated that the initiative was working towards a one per cent success rate, explaining that scaling 1,000 startups would require supporting about 100,000 ventures—an ambitious but achievable target.
BY AGNES OWUSU
Join our WhatsApp Channel now! https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VbAjG7g3gvWajUAEX12Q
Follow our WhatsApp Channel now! https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VbAjG7g3gvWajUAEX12Q
