African Futures Fund by Jessica Berlin, Germany (ADEL 2017)

June 25, 0021

African Futures evolved from a conference to a digital platform and fund that helped impact-driven entrepreneurs and secure the funding and partnerships they need to scale their businesses across the continent. African Futures goal is to help turn national level sustainable business success stories into continental successes, and continental successes into global companies. African Futures was able to attract outstanding talent, and make waves in the African entrepreneurship and tech innovation scene. About Jessica: Jessica Berlin is the founder and managing director of CoStruct, a strategy consultancy working at the intersection of business, technology, and economic development. CoStruct consults public, private, and nonprofit organizations on innovation strategy, program design for tech and entrepreneurship initiatives, and market entry in emerging and frontier markets. An international policy expert turned entrepreneur, Jessica's passion for advancing sustainable business and tech solutions stems from her prior work in security, foreign policy, and development aid. She has lived and worked in Afghanistan, China, Germany, Myanmar, Rwanda, the UK, and the US. Her crosscutting experience gives her unique insight into the challenges and opportunities of building international partnerships to address interconnected global challenges. In addition to founding CoStruct, Jessica is co-founder of MakerNet, an international consortium fostering networked local manufacture and digital design; BerLink, a business consortium linking the Berlin tech ecosystem to emerging innovation ecosystems in other countries; and Die Brückenbauer, a nonprofit initiative scaling economic and cultural inclusion programs to underprivileged communities in Germany. She holds an M.Sc. in Political Economy of Emerging Markets from King's College London and a B.A. in International Relations from Tufts University.

MOINS

Speakers
Jessica Berlin
Founder and Managing Director, CoStruct (Emerging Leader)
...

RELATED CONTENT

  • February 9, 2022
    In a country as stable as Germany, changes of Chancellor are a rarity. Angela Merkel stayed in power for sixteen years, as did Helmut Kohl in his time. The new three-party coalition (Social Democrats, Greens, Liberals) intends to shake up the country. How should Africa approach this new leadership? Can the new government bring momentum to Euro-African relations? Can Berlin bring about a clear understanding of Africa’s development issues and geopolitical subtleties? ...
  • Authors
    February 9, 2022
    The geographic position of Morocco and its history makes it a strategic country when it comes to matters of international migration. Having long been considered as a country of origin, the fast paced growing development of Morocco soon brought it from being merely a sending country to becoming a transit and destination to migrants from other parts of Africa. This change in the migratory context of Morocco has led to the adoption of a series of policies and governmental actions to ta ...
  • Authors
    February 3, 2022
    COVID-19 has ravaged nearly every country in the world, with the globalization of recent decades intensifying its spread. As of mid-2021, the world had spent $16.5 trillion—18% of global GDP—to fight the disease. And that amount does not even include the most important losses such as deaths, mental health effects, restrictions on human freedom, and other nonmonetary suffering. Nearly 90% of this spending was by developed economies, with the rest by emerging market and developing eco ...
  • January 31, 2022
    According to the Oslo Manual, innovation can be defined as “the implementation of a new or significantly improved product (good or service), or process, a new marketing method or a new organisational method in business practices, workplace organisations or external relations” (OECD, 2005, p. 46). For today’s middle-income countries in Africa, innovation is essential to sustain growth and promote the transition to high-income status. This paper begins by providing a summary of theore ...
  • Authors
    January 31, 2022
    It has been more than 100 years since Germany manifested colonial power, a dark period of history indeed. Political and military leaders, supported by its ruler, Wilhelm II, Emperor of Germany and King of Prussia, committed crimes against humanity on African land.  The first genocide of the 20th Century, mass killings of 65 000 Herero in Africa, today known as Namibia. Between 1904 and 1908, Germany suffocated humanity in concentration camps like Shark Island, forcing them into dead ...
  • January 27, 2022
    Africafé est une émission du Policy Center for the New South qui décrypte l’actualité des organisations africaines et de l’Afrique. A travers de courtes interviews, l’émission tente de proposer d’aborder de manière pédagogique les enjeux des organisations africaines et l’actualité du co...