African industrialist Adam Molai of Zimbabwe has launched a $1-million fund to provide entrepreneurs with capital to kickstart or expand their enterprises, in a massive boost for start-up businesses in Africa, according to a statement shared with APA in Kigali.The JUA [sunrise in Kiswahili] Kickstarter Fund will  provide successful applicants with funds – to launch or grow their  businesses – as well as mentoring and guidance, the statement said.

While SMMEs are indispensable for Africa’s economic recovery from Covid-19 devastation, raising start-up capital is one of the biggest challenges  for entrepreneurs on the Continent, with banks requiring collateral that  most of them do not have, studies show.

Another big challenge is the absence of mentoring.

Molai,  who has successfully started several enterprises across Africa and  whose TRT Investments had $125-million of assets under management as of  end 2019, says a desire to inspire the Continent’s entrepreneurial  generation was behind the creation of the fund.

Molai says the inspiration to create the JUA FUND was to highlight the importance of African businesspeople, tangibly demonstrating their confidence in the talent and entrepreneurial capacity that is within the continent.

“When  people see Africans investing in our own environment, they feel more  confident to invest alongside us. Confidence breeds confidence. And I am  nothing if not confident in the future of Africa and in what we can  collectively achieve,” he says.