$69M Fund Boosts Francophone Africa’s DeepTech

Francophone Africa’s Tech Boom: DeepTech, Dollars, and the New Silicon Savannah
The African continent is no longer just the cradle of humankind—it’s fast becoming the cradle of *next-gen innovation*. While global headlines obsess over Silicon Valley’s latest crypto flop or AI hype, a quieter revolution is brewing in Francophone Africa. Fueled by a cocktail of local grit, international cash injections, and strategic bets on *DeepTech*, this region is rewriting the rules of the startup game. Forget safari tours; the real adventure here is in venture capital flows and patent filings.

The DeepTech Gold Rush

If Francophone Africa’s tech scene were a noir thriller, DeepTech would be the hard-boiled protagonist—equal parts brains and brawn. Startups leveraging AI, biotech, and robotics aren’t just chasing profits; they’re tackling everything from malaria diagnostics to drought-resistant crops. The African Intellectual Property Organization and the African Guarantee Fund (AGF) just dropped a $69 million mic—a fund aimed at bankrolling 1,000 DeepTech projects over five years. That’s not just loose change; it’s a statement.
Take robotics. While the West frets about robots stealing jobs, African innovators are deploying them to fix *actual* problems—like Rwanda’s drone-delivered medical supplies or Senegal’s AI-driven soil analysis for smallholder farmers. Meanwhile, biotech startups are turning local flora into pharma goldmines, patenting remedies derived from baobab and moringa. Call it *reverse colonialism*: this time, the tech’s flowing from the Global South upward.

The Money Trail: Who’s Betting Big?

Follow the money, and you’ll find a who’s who of investors elbowing for a piece of the action. France’s Bpifrance, a heavyweight in startup funding, inked a €350 million co-investment pact in 2021, tying Parisian pockets to Dakar’s disruptors. Not to be outdone, the African Development Bank tossed $7.5 million into Africa Tech Ventures (ATV), a play to scale tech-driven solutions in logistics, education, and consumer goods.
Venture capital firms are circling like vultures—*the good kind*. Partech Ventures raised $70 million for an Africa-focused fund, eyeing early-stage startups with the hunger of a hyena at a gazelle convention. Then there’s Flow48, a fintech darling that bagged $69 million in Series A funding to reinvent SME lending. Or Gozem, Francophone Africa’s “Super App” answer to Grab, which scooped up $30 million to conquer West and Central Africa’s ride-hail and e-payment markets.
But here’s the kicker: fintech snagged *half* of the $2+ billion raised by African startups in 2021. Why? Because while Silicon Valley obsesses over metaverse real estate, Africa’s solving *real* problems—like banking the unbanked.

Hubs, Skills, and the GreenTech Wildcard

No ecosystem thrives without infrastructure, and Francophone Africa’s stacking its deck. The *Timbuktoo GreenTech Hub* (yes, that’s its real name) is prototyping everything from solar microgrids to waste-to-energy tech, while the *Africa Centre of Competence for Digital and AI Skilling* is churning out coders faster than baguettes in a Dakar bakery.
Then there’s *Digital Africa*, a Macron-backed initiative since 2018, playing fairy godmother to Francophone tech with funding, mentorship, and networking glue. Meanwhile, the African Development Bank’s $10 million Sustainable Energy Fund is juicing climate tech, aiming to add 200 MW of renewable energy and 66,000 jobs. Translation: the continent isn’t just chasing tech—it’s *greening* it.

Case Closed, Folks

Francophone Africa’s tech scene isn’t just growing; it’s *mutating*—with DeepTech as its DNA, venture capital as its lifeblood, and hubs as its nerve centers. The fintech wins prove the model works, the GreenTech bets show it’s sustainable, and the international cash influx screams *FOMO*.
So, next time someone drones on about “emerging markets,” remind them: Francophone Africa isn’t emerging. It’s *arrived*. And it’s got the patents, funding rounds, and Super Apps to prove it. Now, where’s that hyperspeed Chevy? This gumshoe’s got a tech safari to catch.