Moniepoint CEO Tosin Eniolorunda to Lead $200,000 Pan-African AI Startup Accelerator

Tosin Eniolorunda, the founder and Group Chief Executive Officer of Moniepoint, has been tapped to lead the inaugural cohort of the Askya AI Growth Platform. This pan-African programme is set to pump up to $200,000 into promising African artificial intelligence, or AI, startups.

Askya Investment Partners is behind this initiative, which aims to help 10 AI-native, Africa-focused startups. They won't just get cash; they'll also receive support to get their products out there and find customers. The goal is to help these companies reach a point where their products really connect with the market, known as product-market fit, and then scale up across the entire continent.

This whole thing is happening at a time when Africa's AI scene is really starting to get some serious buzz. The African Development Bank is even saying that if AI is used well, it could add a massive $1 trillion to the continent's Gross Domestic Product, or GDP, by 2035. That's a lot of zeroes.

Askya Investment Partners wants to make sure that Africans aren't just the ones using AI technology, but that they're also the ones building the smart solutions that can go head-to-head with anything the rest of the world is making. Eniolorunda himself seems to agree, saying, "Africans can build solutions for people all over the world, and AI may be the clearest opportunity yet to prove it."

He also highlighted what he believes young founders need: "Our young founders are ready; what they need is execution support and access to real customers." Eniolorunda added that helping talented African tech entrepreneurs build businesses that last is a major priority for him, which is why he's happy to chair this first group. Babacar Seck, Founder and Managing Partner at Askya Investment Partners, pointed out that Eniolorunda's track record makes him the perfect person to guide this programme. Seck praised Eniolorunda for building a "generational technology company that addresses real African needs, with ambition, relentless commitment, superior execution and authenticity."

Seck believes Eniolorunda's leadership will help light the path for the next wave of African innovators as they work towards getting their products right and expanding across Africa. For any AI-native startups based in Africa, applications are still open. Askya plans to announce the chosen startups by October.