LocationsBuilding Africa’s Innovation Ecosystem: timbuktoo at #UNGA80
September 30, 2025
At the 80th United Nations General Assembly #UNGA80, UNDP’s flagship initiative, timbuktoo demonstrated its growing influence not on the global innovation stage but with trailblazing innovators across the continent. This moment marked an important platform bringing together timbuktoo startup founders, members of the timbuktoo Africa Innovation Foundation, the United Nations Development Programme, and innovation players in the ecosystem to advance the innovation ecosystem by engaging in dynamic discussion and showcasing their work.
Through a series of high-level side events spanning business forums, policy discussions, and innovation showcases, timbuktoo highlighted the creativity, resilience, and ambition shaping the continent’s startup ecosystem. The showcase through the UNGA high-level month included startups from timbuktoo sector Hubs to student-led prototypes across the University Innovation Pods (UniPods), with one message resonating throughout: Africa’s innovation economy is accelerating, and Africa’s youth are leading the charge with global and innovative solutions.
Unstoppable Africa 2025
In partnership with Unstoppable Africa 2025, the largest African business forum held outside the continent, UNDP and timbuktoo partnered to showcase and spark productive discourse on how Africa can expand its footprint in value-added manufacturing, renewable energy, and digital commerce, and more sectors. On the Global Africa Business Initiative (GABI) main stage, five (5) members of the timbuktoo startup cohort presented their ventures, including Shirley Gwenzi, co-founder of Sosho Pay Global, a FinTech platform that enables small businesses to finance solar energy systems on credit.
“We’re solving for affordability and access,” Shirley said on the Unstoppable Africa main stage. “Our platform matches businesses with local financiers so they can get solar on credit because when a business has power, it has potential. Regulations differ across markets, but we’ve built flexibility into our model to grow across borders.”
Also on the main stage during a panel discussion on digital, UNDP Africa Director and Assistant Secretary-General, Ahunna Eziakonwa offered a powerful perspective on how to unlock startup growth at scale:
“What excites me about timbuktoo is that it doesn’t start with Africa’s problems—it starts with its potential. We’re building ecosystems where policies support innovation, not stifle it. Founders need more than just funding, they need mentorship, legal support, and space to take early-stage risks. That’s what timbuktoo is working to provide.”
A High-Level Push for Policy, Capital, and Collaboration
At a dedicated side event hosted by timbuktoo featuring the timbuktoo Africa Innovation Foundation, startup founders, investors, and policymakers, explored collective solutions for the most pressing barriers to scaling innovation across Africa. Founders from ZuriHealth, DWEE Health, Mrembo Naturals, and Sosho Pay presented their business models to challenge lingering perceptions of risk and scale. Investors from 500 Global, Kuramo Capital, and Equity Bank stressed on the importance of financing mechanisms tailored for African ventures, including venture debt, FX-hedged instruments, and blended finance models designed to reduce early-stage exposure.
Beyond capital, discussions focused on the importance of enabling regulatory frameworks. The event was attended by the Immediate Past Vice President of Nigeria and Guardian Angel of the timbuktoo Africa Innovation Foundation, H.E. Yemi Osinbajo; the CEO of the Foundation, Natalie Jabangwe; and UNDP Goodwill Ambassador and timbuktoo Champion, Patoranking. Together, they emphasized that aligning youth engagement, policy, and business environments is essential for building scalable innovation ecosystems across the continent.
From Campus to Catalyst: The Future Starts with Students
At Newlab, the spotlight turned to universities as critical partners in Africa’s innovation journey. The session introduced SPARK Africa, timbuktoo’s flagship initiative launching in 2026, which will connect students from African and international universities through hands-on summer innovation labs at the UniPods.
A recent graduate from MIT shared her insights from her experience at the Sierra Leone UniPod, where they collaborated with local teams to develop community-based solutions, further underscoring the need to position higher education as a driver of entrepreneurship.
An exchange with institutions from Togo, Lesotho, and Guinea showcased the growing interest in UniPods as a model for collaborative learning and scalable problem-solving. The event concluded with an open call for participation in the 2026 SPARK Africa cohort.
What Comes Next?
UNGA 80 underscored a clear truth: Africa already has the creative and economic capacity to drive transformative innovation. The next step is to strengthen the systems that allow startups to thrive through clarity on regulations, financial inclusion, and strong human capital. This journey depends on policies that encourage innovation and entrepreneurship, Investors prepared to support bold and early ventures, universities that serve as active innovation hubs, and ongoing collaboration among public, private, and academic partners
For timbuktoo, #UNGA80 reaffirmed that the continent’s innovation momentum is accelerating. The future is actively taking shape in Africa - driven by vision, talent, and enterprise.