The ACE Africa project aims to support the growth of circular economy businesses in Africa. Circular economy is a growing area of interest for achieving sustainability across multiple sectors, and it is clear that, in Africa, the private sector is leading the transition to a circular economy. With a focus on the intersecting areas of food, health and climate change, this project will guide entrepreneurs, and new start-ups through an incubation programme and provide a platform for exposure to, and interaction with, mature circular economy businesses, funders and government officers.
The desired outcomes are to support a number of businesses to mature, to contribute to improved innovation ecosystems for circular economy, and to provide guidance to local governments on how to improve or support innovative businesses that enhance circular development.
The Incubation Programme
ACE Africa is offering two types of programmes and businesses will be selected into each programme based on certain criteria. The programmes are:
Countdown is a highly interactive program built for entrepreneurs operating between the ideation and early stages of generating revenue as well as entrepreneurs looking to enter new markets or introduce new offerings. The program aims to help entrepreneurs validate their business and market and to help them grow sales. We utilise lean startup and design thinking as our learning, testing and iterating model in order to gain customer insights, define a user POV, ideate numerous solutions all leading into rapid prototyping, testing, and iterating.
Lift-Off is aimed at revenue-generating, scalable startups who are ready to grow their businesses. . This programme enables entrepreneurs to set the foundations for scale by assisting them in developing strategy and addressing 2 key needs within the business.
