Across Africa, millions of young people with bright ideas and strong ambition continue to face limited access to capital, mentorship, and business opportunities, a challenge that has slowed innovation and enterprise growth across the continent.
Stepping into this gap is UK-based African investor and impact advocate, Leandra Mika, founder of Bridge Seed Global (BSG), a platform created to provide funding, education, and mentorship for Africa’s next generation of entrepreneurs.
Speaking on the vision behind the initiative, Mika said her journey into impact investing was shaped by personal experience. “There was a time in my life when I had ideas but lacked the skills, funding, and networks to make them real. That season taught me how powerful access truly is,” she explained.
She revealed that her turning point came after a mentor challenged her to create a solution to the same problem she was facing. “A year later, I earned my MBA, and that experience planted the seed for what eventually became Bridge Seed Global,” she added.
Africa is currently grappling with what experts describe as a $200 billion opportunity gap, a figure linked to youth unemployment, underfunded startups, and limited early-stage capital. With over 60 per cent of Africa’s population under the age of 25, and youth unemployment exceeding 60 per cent in some countries, the urgency for intervention continues to grow. Despite this, less than five per cent of global emerging market venture capital finds its way into African startups, with women-led businesses receiving an even smaller share.
Through Bridge Seed Global, Mika is confronting this imbalance by supporting founders aged 18 to 35 via a three-month accelerator programme. The initiative offers £5,000 equity-free funding, structured business training, mentorship, and direct access to angel investors and venture capital partners. The programme’s first cohort is scheduled to commence in March 2026.
According to Mika, the decision to offer non-dilutive funding was deliberate. “We believe founders deserve the opportunity to build without losing ownership at the earliest stages. Capital should empower, not limit their future,” she said.
Beyond funding, Bridge Seed Global operates on a strong values-driven foundation. Mika noted that entrepreneurship, in her view, goes beyond profit. “I see entrepreneurs as co-creators with God, and capital as a stewardship tool meant to serve people, create jobs, and transform communities,” she stated.
The organisation currently supports entrepreneurs across several African countries, with a strong focus on founders from both urban centres and marginalised communities, ensuring that talent is not ignored due to geography or background. The accelerator programme concludes with a Demo Day, where selected founders pitch to investors in hopes of securing their first angel or institutional funding rounds.
While admission into the programme remains highly competitive, Mika continues to encourage young founders with scalable ideas to apply, stressing that Africa’s future depends on empowering its youth.
As the continent’s young population continues to expand, Leandra Mika’s work is increasingly seen as a timely intervention, reinforcing the belief that Africa’s greatest wealth is not found beneath the soil, but within its people and that investing in them may be the key to reshaping the continent’s economic future, one entrepreneur at a time.