Venture for Africa — Bridging talent gaps for Africa’s fastest-growing startups
2019 — A founders’ retreat + initial spark
In 2019, I was on the coast of Kenya with three of my colleagues from MEST Africa, who are now friends, and we were reflecting on the recurring challenges we were seeing pop up in our ecosystem. At the top of that list was a growing talent gap in the African startup industry.
Due to our experience in the African tech space, all four of us had experienced contacts reaching out consistently — from across the continent and the Diaspora — looking for a way into a role at a tech startup. But if they weren’t in the space already, it was often difficult for them to get a foot in the door.
Simultaneously, we had a lot of startup founders and operators in our network coming to us asking if we knew of anyone who could fill essential roles as they started to grow. It remains true that more often than not, founders look to fill early roles from within their networks. We saw an opportunity to find a sustainable way to bridge this gap. It was there that the seeds of Venture for Africa (VFA) were planted.
The pandemic and pivot in 2020
Originally, our vision was to create an in-person experience for individuals who wanted to become immersed in the startup space. We saw this work well at MEST, where teaching fellows and advisors would often share a house in Ghana during their time at the program, facilitating easy conversation and strong bonds. We believed that our fellows would benefit from joining a community of peers in a specific market and engaging in a program comprising curated content, masterclasses, and mentoring sessions with seasoned startup operators, such as country launchers, product leads, and marketers. We were also going to host networking events and mixers to facilitate connections within the ecosystem.
This program aimed at providing participants with deep insights into the local tech scene and specific roles within startups, ultimately culminating in interview opportunities for candidates to secure positions at these startups.
However, just as we were finalizing the operational details, the COVID-19 pandemic struck, and we all went into lockdown.
During lockdown, startups in emerging markets faced even greater challenges. Many had to cut costs, lay off employees, or close down completely due to reduced demand and cash flow. However, for those able to continue operations, finding talented and dedicated staff became a top priority. On the other hand, many skilled individuals were left with rescinded job offers or uncertain career paths.
We forged ahead anyway, taking instead a remote approach. We wanted to connect startups in Africa seeking senior talent with individuals worldwide who were seeking new opportunities — and could take advantage of the new remote-first ways of work to access talent, no matter where in the world they happened to be based. This opened up our potential talent pool exponentially and allowed us to plant seeds in the minds of many who were laid off from big tech companies at this time or seeking roles post-MBA programmes, who might not otherwise have considered working with startups in Africa.
Understanding the problem
Between 2015 and 2020, venture capital investment in Africa steadily increased, with an average year-over-year growth rate exceeding 45%. According to Partech, funding for startups on the continent was projected to increase from $2.25 billion to $2.8 billion in 2021. This growth rate was six times faster than the global average. Despite this growth, a study by Catalyst Fund and Briter revealed that talent gaps remained the most common barrier to growth for African startup teams.
On the startup side, we were seeing startup founders, on average, spend 50% of their time on hiring new talent, often heavily relying on personal networks. Hiring teams were consistently overwhelmed by underqualified talent pools generated from mass-market job boards, and on average, it took more than 45 days to fill senior positions.
On the talent side, our initial research suggested that 57% of job seekers struggled with accessing the right networks and gaining the necessary context for success in new roles, markets, or industries — especially if they were not already connected to the African startup ecosystem. In fact, many senior roles open at tech companies never even make it to a JD or job board; founders instead look for individuals within their networks or in the ecosystem rather than leverage any sort of recruitment tech.
Enter the VFA experience
We initially launched Venture for Africa as an immersion program and talent community designed to facilitate the transition of experienced local and global non-tech talent into the African startup ecosystem, and/or up the career ladder.
For talent, we help experienced professionals new to working startups, new to specific markets or in a transition to a new role soft-land and gain context while working with startup teams that are actively hiring for that role. It also enabled them to get a sense of what that particular startup and the environment as a whole are like before committing full-time.
For startups, the idea is that we could cut the time to hire down significantly by providing them with an experienced potential hire on a low-risk basis for three months, during which both parties could get a sense of what it’s like to work together and ultimately make a much more informed decision at the end of what essentially became akin to a probationary period. The programme would enable the candidate to hit the ground running, work on measured deliverables that contributed to the company’s goals, and potentially transition to full-time roles.
Why this approach?
Talent can lean on VFA for better visibility and access to mid and experienced-level opportunities within the African tech ecosystem which they might not otherwise find. We provide quicker decision-making, de-risked transitions through our fellow-to-hire model, access to expert mentors, and a network and community of like-minded individuals passionate about working with startups.
The startups benefit from access to our global network of experienced non-tech talent, faster hiring times, reduced costs, de-risked decision-making and better access to exceptional passive candidates — individuals who are currently employed and not actively seeking a new job but might be open to new opportunities if the right one comes along under the right circumstances. They also have the flexibility of working with independent contractors who are eager to become team members.
Over time, we also found demand for alternative arrangements. For example, a startup could access a skilled MBA student mid-way through their course who is looking for a summer internship. They may not otherwise be able to access or afford this talent, but through VFA can work with them on a specific set of deliverables that can have a lasting impact for the team. Or, they can choose to work with very senior corporate talent looking to make an impact through part-time consulting over the course of a few months.
How the process works:
Year 1: 2020/2021
Here’s an overview of what our first year looked like:
- May 2020: Kenya launch & first recruitment drive
- July 2020: Inaugural cohort — 5 fellows & 3 startups (Wasoko, Turaco and Okhi)
- Jan 2021: Transition from cohort-based programming to year-round placement
- EOY 2021: 14 fellows placed across 4 startups
Learnings and Pivots
In our first year, we made three important pivots:
Pivot #1
We moved from a cohort-based model to year-round placement, allowing us to better support our fellows and startups throughout the year. We realised that it was nearly impossible to line up the timing for hiring needs and decisions across startups, and didn’t want to keep fellows waiting.
Pivot #2
We also focused more on partnering with later-stage startups, as we found our programme to be more effective in meeting talent needs at that level compared to earlier-stage companies.
Pivot #3
We zeroed in on non-technical roles across five categories (Strategic Finance, Strategy and Operations, Product Management, Growth and Marketing, and Data Analytics), enabling us to become experts in these areas.
Learnings from fellows
Fellows we worked with emphasized the appeal of fresh challenges, the chance to make a meaningful impact within VFA’s structured fellowship and the ability to connect to others in the same state of transition. For those transitioning from well-established organizations to startups, VFA provided a crucial support system, making the shift less daunting. It also acted as a soft landing for individuals keen to explore the African tech landscape but unsure of where to start.
VFA also served as a bridge for those from the Diaspora or those curious about the African tech ecosystem, offering a unique lens into how innovative companies tackle pressing challenges on the continent. Moreover, the program streamlined the job search process by enabling fellows to share their profiles, connecting them with relevant opportunities, and simplifying the journey of matching talent with startups.
Learnings from startups
Startup teams found our model attractive because it easily addressed the critical issue of culture fit when hiring senior talent and reduced the time from role opening to productivity from a candidate significantly. This was particularly valuable for young companies, as it was extremely important for them to find candidates with a near-perfect culture match. We provide high-quality candidate profiles and manage the initial stages of the hiring process, saving them time and effort. Because the fellowship itself is fairly low risk (stipend-based pay and a 3-month contract), they’re able to make a decision faster and get started with the candidate sooner.
Overall, the talent we curate and place has proven to be valuable assets to startups, bringing their independent problem-solving and other expertise and delivering projects within the given timeframe.
Year 2: 2021/22
At the beginning of 2022, we expanded beyond Kenya to serve startups in other markets by placing our first French-speaking fellow. Sixtine Sulaski, a Growth fellow, joined the Cameroonian fintech company Diool through Venture for Africa. Sixtine made the move from Africa’s fashion industry to tech and initially engaged with Diool through VFA. She then relocated to Douala, Cameroon, and joined the team full-time as a Sales Manager, driving growth.
Since then, Sixtine has taken even bigger strides by joining Nala, a company that is building a new kind of mobile money transfer for Africans worldwide. She now serves as a Partnerships & Expansion Manager.
Later in the year, we also started to see some patterns emerging. First, there was significant demand for product roles coming from our startup partners, particularly in the fintech space as these were the fastest-growing and most-funded companies, and the pipeline of experienced product talent was not enough to fill them.
Given the fairly nascent engineering industry on the continent, this supply challenge made sense. Quality product talent needs to have a good understanding of both the business and technical aspects, which requires some experience in both areas. According to a report from IFC and Google in 2020 (source: IFC and Google), there were nearly 700,000 professional developers at that time, with more than half of them located in five African markets: Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, and South Africa. However, the developer talent in those markets tended to be much younger compared to more advanced economies. In fact, 43% of developers in those markets had only one to three years of experience, while the same percentage in the US was 22%. As a result, although the importance of product roles was starting to be recognized in the African startup ecosystem, the demand for well-rounded product talent quickly outpaced the available supply.
In response, we decided to expand VFA’s mission and work to build a learning and development community, and talent accelerator for experienced managers and operators in the African tech ecosystem, as a way to fuel the pipeline into our talent community and upskill talent already in existing roles.
The Inaugural Fintech Product Bootcamp
We introduced the VFA Fintech PM Bootcamp — a 12-week program tailored for experienced talent seeking to transition into Product Management or advance their careers in the product space, within the African fintech sector.
The bootcamp catered to four primary participant categories:
- Mid-level product managers in other sectors aiming to move to fintech and enhance PM strategy skills.
- Mid to senior-level business unit leaders from traditional banking looking to shift into tech startup product management.
- Experienced consultants with a financial services industry background.
- Mid to senior-level Project Managers with experience in traditional organizations.
This program aimed to provide participants with hands-on experience in crafting exceptional products for the African market, utilizing globally recognised best practices. This was achieved through thoughtfully curated content delivered by experienced industry experts, engaging online workshops with Product Managers from leading African companies, real-world case studies, and practical problem-solving exercises inspired by the challenges faced by VFA’s startup partners.
In June 2022, we kicked off our first-ever cohort of the VFA Fintech PM Bootcamp. We had over 190 applications for the first run, and the selection process was rigorous, leading to interviews with just over 30 candidates. Over the course of 20 weeks, our curriculum was curated by 16 incredible facilitators who generously dedicated their time, drawing from their experiences building successful products at companies like Flutterwave, Barclays, Stitch, Okra, Chipper Cash, Paystack, BFA Global, Yoco, Diool, Duplo, Possible and Remitly. They not only enriched our curated sessions but also passed on their knowledge to the next generation of PM talent.
We wrapped up the first-ever edition of the VFA Fintech PM Bootcamp in October 2022, with these metrics:
📝 190+ applications received
🗓 20 weeks
📽 17 live sessions
👩🏽🏫 16 expert facilitators
🎓 12 participants
Year 3: 2022/23
After reviewing the first cohort’s outcomes, we introduced an enhanced program structure focusing on content, context, and community, and launched a second cohort in February 2023. This refined approach incorporated preparatory materials, live sessions, and practical deliverables. Facilitators for this cohort included senior PMs with experience building products from Plaid, Money254, Flutterwave, Branch International, Sendy, Delivery Hero, Chipper Cash, 4G Capital, Okra, and Yoco, and operators from other fast-growing fintech companies globally.
The numbers
📝 350+ applications received for cohort 2
📞 120+ candidates interviewed
🗓 12 weeks
📽 12 live sessions
👩🏽🏫 12 expert facilitators
🎓 28 fellows
In the second half of 2023, we began to hear demand for bootcamps outside of the product space. In September, we kicked off our second bootcamp programme, designed to upskill talent across Go To Market teams — from CEOs to sales and growth leads, to marketers and more. This bootcamp follows similar formatting to previous ones and has kicked off with 13 participants and an equally impressive lineup of expert facilitators.
What’s Next?
One additional takeaway we had from last year is that while our fellow-to-hire programme works well for mid-level hires, a lot of companies looking for senior talent — and that talent themselves — want to find a permanent hire without going through the fellowship period. This has led us to explore executive placements as an alternative option for select startup partners.
After three transformative years of building and expanding Venture for Africa, we firmly believe that we have only scratched the surface of the immense potential within Africa’s talent pool and the technology ecosystem.
Our mission is to become Africa’s leading talent community, facilitating seamless connections between high-growth tech startups and exceptional, experienced professionals who can quickly make significant contributions and drive essential outcomes. Additionally, we strive to foster a community where talent can easily adapt, gain valuable local industry insights, and have a meaningful impact on their careers as well as the future of the ecosystem.
This year, we have also introduced the VFA Product and Go-to-Market Sandboxes, which support early-stage startups and provide real-world experience for participants in our bootcamps. In addition to this, we are also enhancing our services for later-stage startups through initiatives like our Fractional Senior Manager Offering, which provides affordable access to senior management expertise. Additionally, we offer exclusive career services to our talent community, empowering them to supercharge their job search and application skills in the tech ecosystem.
With each year, we hope we can continue to glean insights from our work in this space and adapt as the ecosystem grows, making valuable contributions to Africa’s tech landscape. The future holds exciting possibilities as we work to unlock the full potential of both talent and startups across African markets.
