This archive report was first published on 27 November 2019.
Published on November 27, 2019, Janngo Capital, a venture capital firm based in Abidjan, is working towards investing $60m in African women-led startups to address the significant gender gap in local ventures.
Founded by Senegalese entrepreneur Fatoumata Ba, Janngo Capital has already raised $16.5m, a crucial step towards reaching its target of $60m by Q1 2020. The firm plans to allocate 50% of the funds to finance women-led startups founded or co-founded by women.
Janngo Capital's strategy involves deploying capital from seed to growth stage, as well as providing support to founders to pilot and re-risk their business models.
According to Fatoumata Ba, 'This is critical and was an essential part of my motivation to take a leap of faith and become an investor myself.'
Despite Africa leading in the number of women engaging in entrepreneurship, there's still a significant gender gap in funding. An AfDB report highlights that Africa has a gender funding gap of $42 billion, and women remain underrepresented in the founding and leading of startups in Africa.
Research shows that African women are the most entrepreneurial in the world, yet they face significant barriers in accessing funding. This gap is striking, especially considering the potential for strong returns in gender-balanced business and tech ecosystems.
Janngo Capital's efforts follow in the footsteps of other initiatives aimed at empowering female founders, such as Alitheaia capital's $75m to $100m fund targeting women entrepreneurs.
As Barbara Iyayi, a fintech growth equity investor, noted, 'These expanded networks give rise to more opportunities that increase the quality of deal flow and opportunities to make strong returns, particularly in Africa where the diamonds in the rough are not easily noticeable.'
