The European Investment Bank has invested €108 million in Nigeria and other African countries over the last 10 years to support African entrepreneurs.

The investment was channelled through the bank’s Boost Africa Investment Program, themed “Investment in Africa’s Entrepreneurs: Unlocking Growth, Creating Impact.”

The Nation reported that the European Union Ambassador to Nigeria, Gautier Mignot, disclosed this on Wednesday at an event held to celebrate the achievements of Boost Africa.

Mignot, who spoke under the theme “Investing in Africa’s Next Generation of Entrepreneurs from Investment to Impact,” noted that the Boost Africa initiative has invested €108 million to support African entrepreneurs.

He said the programme has, in addition, mobilised close to €400 million in additional investment and contributed to the creation of about 15,000 jobs across the continent.

Mignot said Boost Africa’s model could help businesses develop solutions to challenges affecting small enterprises and supply chains.

He listed ICT and digitalisation, agribusiness, financial services and financial inclusion, healthcare, education and renewable energy among the sectors targeted by the programme.

Mignot described the initiative as both an investment in African entrepreneurs and in the wider ecosystem required to enable them to build competitive and sustainable businesses.

He said the initiative is meant to create jobs and opportunities, especially for young people, and to help build or reinforce local value chains.

According to Mignot, the programme, which has run for the last 10 years, reflects some of the particularities of the EU’s offer to Nigeria and Africa.

He added that the European Union believes that “Africa’s young entrepreneurs are among the continent’s greatest assets. Their ideas have the potential to transform economies, strengthen communities, and create sustainable prosperity.”

He explained that the Boost Africa initiative is an excellent example of this approach, demonstrating how collaboration between the European Union, the EIB, the African Development Bank, venture capital partners, and African entrepreneurs can generate real and measurable impact.

He added, “I think the figures speak for themselves: more than 108 million euros of funding, with a leverage effect bringing the figure to 400 million euros, and creating 15,000 jobs in the beneficiary countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, in particular Nigeria.

“Nigeria is one of Africa’s most dynamic entrepreneurial ecosystems, and we believe that supporting innovation and enterprise is essential for sustainable economic growth and job creation. So this is really the core of our partnership in Nigeria.”

He noted, however, that one of the biggest constraints confronting these entrepreneurs remained access to capital, particularly at the earliest and riskiest stages of building a company.

“Boost Africa was created to address that gap,” Mignot said.

He explained that Boost Africa was not designed to operate primarily like a conventional commercial bank providing direct loans to thousands of small businesses.

He said a key part of its model was investing through venture-capital funds and other financial intermediaries that identify and finance promising African startups and high-growth small and medium-sized enterprises.

Mignot said the EIB had, through Boost Africa, invested in venture capital funds including TLcom Tide Africa, Partech Africa, AfricInvest Venture Capital Growth Fund, Janngo Capital Startup Fund, Atlantica Venture Capital Fund and Seedstars Africa Ventures I.

Mignot also said there were several other successful stories within the Boost Africa ecosystem, adding that the experiences of entrepreneurs supported through the initiative demonstrated the impact of providing businesses with both capital and expertise.

He further stressed the importance of young people to the initiative, saying entrepreneurship could become a major source of employment for Africa’s growing youth population.

According to Mignot, Nigeria was particularly important to the success of initiatives such as Boost Africa because of its large population, youthful demographic, entrepreneurial energy and vibrant startup ecosystem.

Mignot said the EIB had found that several of the early startups financed through the programme were headquartered in Nigeria, reflecting the country’s position as one of Africa’s leading startup hubs.

He stressed, however, that the broader objective should not simply be to produce more Nigerian startups, but to build Nigerian and African companies capable of scaling across the continent and beyond.

“When an entrepreneur in Lagos develops a solution that can subsequently operate in Ghana, Kenya, Côte d’Ivoire or South Africa, we are beginning to see the creation of genuinely pan-African business,” he said.

Also speaking at the event, the European Investment Bank’s Country Relationship Manager for Nigeria, Moussa Nakoulima, described Boost Africa as a “smart combination of capital and capacity,” stressing that its impact extended beyond financing individual entrepreneurs.

Nakoulima said Africa had a young and talented population and a growing community of businessmen and women developing solutions across financial services, healthcare, digital technology, renewable energy and other sectors.

He said, “Boost Africa is a smart combination of capital and capacity.

“Another important aspect is that Boost Africa focuses on real problems, on solving real everyday business problems. And obviously, we have target sectors such as ICT, renewable energy, the ones that I was referring to, but all of this translates into real business problems.”

He stressed that Boost Africa deliberately put the emphasis on young people, noting, “The initiative was designed around the recognition that entrepreneurship can become a major source of employment, for economic growth, and for its young population.”

He explained that Nigeria has the largest population in Africa, a young population, an extremely vibrant economic ecosystem, a startup ecosystem, very bright minds and business acumen, which explained why Nigerians are among the first beneficiaries of the Boost Africa programme, with many of them headquartered in the country.

He explained further, “So beyond just the impact on Nigeria, there is obviously a wider strategic point. The objective is not simply to produce more Nigerian startups. Of course, it should be to create more Nigerian and African companies capable of scaling across the continent and beyond Africa. Because ultimately, when an entrepreneur in Lagos develops a solution that can be subsequently operating in Ghana, in Côte d’Ivoire, in South Africa, in Kenya, we are beginning to see the real creation, value creation, creation of genuine Pan-African champion, Pan-African large company. And that is ultimately what Boost Africa is about.”