The African Development Bank (AfDB), a development finance institution (DFI), has approved a €6.5 million ($7.6 million) investment into Saviu II, a venture capital (VC) fund operated by Saviu Ventures, an early-stage investor backing startups in Francophone West and Central Africa.
In 2025, Saviu stood out as one of the few VC firms that publicly announced exits in two startups, pan-African eyewear startup Lapaire, and Ivorian digital freight operator Kamtar, despite the low liquidity exits on the continent.
What is Saviu’s fund going to achieve? Saviu II will invest between €500,000 ($584,000) and €3 million ($3.5 million) into about 20 startups at the seed stage, with a smaller allocation carved out for pre-seed deals. The fund is directing at least 60% of its capital into countries like Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, Cameroon, Benin, Togo, Burkina Faso, and Mali.
It will also consider East African startups, but only if they have serious expansion plans into Francophone markets. The first investment vehicle of the fund manager, Saviu I, was launched in 2018 with a capitalisation of €10 million ($11.6 million).
Wait, aren’t DFIs quieter right now? Over the past years, funding from DFIs has slowed down, and Africa’s venture capital fundraising fell from its 2021 peak. The timing of AfDB’s funding matters because, although African startups raised more in 2025, the drop in deal count suggests that investors have become more selective.
So, if private capital is concentrating in familiar markets, and global liquidity is tighter, this DFI’s entry into seed-stage startups in less familiar markets looks intentional.
What does this mean? Early-stage capital will enable new founders in Francophone West and Central Africa to survive long enough to prove traction, strengthening the region’s tech ecosystem and making it harder to ignore. Now, when people talk about tech in Africa, the conversations may not just be concentrated on the Big Four.
