Around 2200 Mission College Blvd in Santa Clara, California, a cohort of young Algerian founders enters the glass-clad halls of Intel, one of Silicon Valley’s most iconic corporate giants. Clad in black athleisure and modest hijabs, the group is there not for a photo op, but for a full day of drilling, mentorship, and tactical learning — a marked shift from last year’s touristic junket.
It’s part of the Algeria Startup Export Program (ASEP), a flagship initiative under the country’s 2020 Startup Act, now undergoing what appears to be its most rigorous and refined iteration yet. The delegation, after wrapping up at Intel, continues on to Stanford University — a 20-minute drive away — to immerse themselves in the entrepreneurial lore of the institution that feeds the Valley’s innovation engine. These aren’t study-abroad students, nor government envoys. They’re Algerian startup founders on a state-sponsored mission to embed themselves in the world’s most dynamic tech ecosystems.
Back home, similar outbound trips are being finalised for destinations as varied as South Korea, China, and even Slovenia — a rising tech power in Central Europe. But it’s not a vacation. The new ASEP structure now enforces a three-phase selection pipeline: registration, bootcamp-style cultural and communication training, and then, only then, an overseas trip including B2B meetings, ecosystem tours, and feedback reviews.
To participate, startups must hold an official “Startup Label” granted by Algeria’s Ministry of Knowledge Economy and Startups. Only one founder per company is allowed per trip, ensuring the expedition remains intimate and outcome-oriented. This new rigour is a post-audit response to last year’s less structured outings.
The program, which in 2024 funded over 260 startups with full travel coverage — including flights, accommodation, transport, and visa fees — is not just a logistical effort. It’s a geopolitical startup strategy. Through curated immersion into ecosystems like Silicon Valley, Boston, Shenzhen, and Seoul, Algeria is betting on global exposure to drive a next generation of innovators who can bring back not just tech knowledge, but connections and credibility.
“For me, the ASEP trip to Shenzhen was transformative,” said Amina Djebbar, founder of Vandista, reflecting on her 2024 cohort experience. “It opened up real partnership opportunities in an ecosystem far more advanced than I had imagined.”
And while Algeria looks outward, much of Sub-Saharan Africa remains stuck in neutral — Startup Acts signed into law, but few signs of meaningful implementation.
Startup Acts, Different Outcomes
The contrast is glaring. While Algeria — and its neighbour Tunisia — have moved to fully operationalise their Startup Acts, Sub-Saharan counterparts like Nigeria, Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, and the Democratic Republic of Congo have largely stalled.
Tunisia’s 2018 Startup Act is perhaps the continent’s most mature. Its implementation body, Smart Capital, has created the ANAVA Fund of Funds, a $60 million public-private vehicle funded by the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations (CDC Tunisie), Germany’s KfW, the Tunisian Central Bank, and other government arms. The fund has already deployed €45 million across 10 venture capital funds, with a pipeline of at least three more.
Smart Capital reports that just one year into the Act, 28% of new jobs in labeled startups were created. Over 60% of Tunisia’s labeled startups operate in high-growth sectors such as fintech, edtech, and B2B SaaS. Early-stage funding surged to $22.4 million in 2019 alone — a remarkable figure given Tunisia’s modest market size.
In Algeria, the startup ecosystem now also has financial muscle. The Algeria Startup Fund, launched in 2020 with 1.2 billion dinars (~$8.9m), recently appointed international banking veteran Anys Rahabi — formerly of HSBC and Citibank — as its new director. The fund, structured as a venture vehicle rather than a lending body, focuses on equity investments and partnership-based financing. It is co-owned by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy and six public banks.
Sub-Saharan Delay and Drift
South of the Sahara, the narrative changes. The Nigeria Startup Act, signed into law in October 2022 amid fanfare and consultations, remains in implementation limbo. While private sector activity continues to flourish — especially in fintech, mobility, and logistics — there’s been little to show in terms of state-backed programming, funding, or institutional alignment. Nigeria’s Startup Label process exists largely on paper. The Startup Investment Seed Fund (initially pegged at ₦10 billion) remains uncapitalized.
Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, and DRC — all of which have passed Startup Acts since 2020 — show similar inertia. The acts exist, but institutional coordination, funding mechanisms, and capacity-building efforts are underdeveloped or non-existent. Instead, the private sector, development institutions, and foreign VCs continue to shoulder the burden of ecosystem growth.
And while North African states pursue outbound global exposure and co-investment pathways, most Sub-Saharan Startup Acts haven’t even reached the label-certification stage — the administrative backbone needed to structure further support.
Lessons in Political Will
What Algeria’s ASEP and Tunisia’s ANAVA make clear is that legal instruments alone do not build ecosystems. Implementation, funding, and a clearly defined startup policy agency — not simply a line in a ministry’s organogram — are what make Startup Acts matter.
Whether ASEP delivers long-term success will depend on follow-up — scaling the number of labeled startups, expanding investment vehicles beyond the public sector, and integrating diaspora and global market linkages. But in sheer execution terms, Algeria is already far ahead of many of its Sub-Saharan counterparts.
Startup laws may be the fashion across African capitals, but North Africa appears to be one of the few regions actually wearing them well.