EIB's €108m Boost Africa initiative fuels Nigerian startups, creates 15k jobs
EU Ambassador to Nigeria Gautier Mignot revealed Wednesday that the European Investment Bank's Boost Africa initiative has invested €108 million in Nigerian and other African startups over the past decade, attracting nearly €400 million in additional funding and creating approximately 15,000 jobs across sub-Saharan Africa.
Launched in 2016 by EIB and African Development Bank with EU support, the program goes beyond capital provision to include technical assistance and ecosystem development aimed at helping startups survive, expand and compete. Mignot highlighted Nigeria's dynamic entrepreneurial ecosystem, noting that a Lagos-based success expanding to Ghana, Kenya, Côte d'Ivoire and South Africa exemplifies genuine pan-African value creation.
EIB Country Manager Moussa Nkoulima explained the initiative worked with six venture capital funds, with the initial €108 million acting as a catalyst for broader investment. The program specifically targets early-stage funding gaps that have historically hindered African entrepreneurs.
For Nigerian founders and investors, this demonstrates growing international confidence in local innovation models. With additional funding attracted and job creation verified, the initiative offers a template for sustainable startup scaling—will more Nigerian entrepreneurs seek similar blended finance approaches that combine capital with technical support to build cross-African businesses?