The African Development Bank and Algeria’s Ministry of Knowledge Economy, Startups, and Micro-Enterprises have pledged to strengthen their partnership to accelerate the growth of startups and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across the continent.
At the close of the fourth edition of the Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF 2025), held in Algiers 4 - 10 September, Ousmane Fall, Acting Director of the Bank’s Industrial and Trade Development Department, underscored the Bank’s pivotal role in mobilising capital for African businesses. “Supporting small and medium-sized enterprises and startups is one of the key pillars of our work, as defined in the Four Cardinal Points of the Bank Group’s new President, Dr. Sidi Ould Tah,” said Fall, who led the Bank’s delegation to IATF 2025. “The Bank will support SMEs through an innovative approach that combines new financing instruments, advisory services, and policy reforms to promote their emergence across the continent,” he added.
Focus on Private Sector Partnerships
Before meeting with Minister Noureddine Ouadah, the Bank’s delegation held a working session with Algeria Venture, the public startup accelerator. Both parties agreed to expand their collaboration, notably through exchanges with Algerian startup support funds and leading private equity and venture capital funds. They also confirmed their joint participation in the African Startup Conference, to be held in Algiers from 6 to 9 December 2025, which will serve as a continental platform to promote innovation, strengthen networks, and mobilize investment.
At the closing of IATF 2025, Minister Ouadah announced the creation of a new investment fund dedicated to African startups—an initiative of Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune—underscoring Algeria’s commitment to placing youth and innovation at the heart of the continent’s economic future.
The Bank’s Non-Sovereign Operations team showcased financing solutions for the private sector and explored new strategic partnerships. Discussions with companies such as Solewant Group, a Nigerian leader in steel and coatings, highlighted the Bank’s focus on supporting high-impact African enterprises.
“Solewant perfectly illustrates the type of transformative business the Bank seeks to support: African-led, growth-oriented, and committed to building a more industrialized and self-reliant continent,” emphasized Cédric Achille Mbeng Mezui, Lead of Private Sector Investment Operations at the Bank’s Africa Investment Forum.
Promoting Innovation through the Bank’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship Lab
The Bank also shared its expertise in several key sessions at IATF 2025, including one co-organized by UNDP’s Timbuktoo initiative and the African Union, titled “Building an Enabling Startup Ecosystem,” and a session hosted by Afreximbank’s African Research and Innovation Centre. These exchanges provided an opportunity to present the Bank’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship Lab and its flagship ENNOVA platform, which supports entrepreneurs in scaling their businesses and accessing new opportunities.
As the IATF Advisory Council, in which the African Development Bank is an active member, announced that Nigeria will host the fifth edition of the fair in 2027, in Lagos, the Bank reaffirmed its continued commitment to making trade, innovation, and entrepreneurship key drivers of inclusive growth and industrial transformation across the continent.
Source: AfDB