David van Dijk

Team Lead at Boost Africa

Moderator

David leads the Boost Africa Technical Assistance (TA) program, which supports African VC funds and portfolio companies backed by the European Investment Bank's Boost Africa fund-of-funds. He contributed to the creation of the Africa Venture Finance Program (AVFP) at Oxford Saïd Business School, aimed at supporting African VC fund managers. David has initiated various efforts to improve coordination of technical assistance (TA) offerings among Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) and other organizations, including establishing the 'TA Practitioners Forum.' He is also a founding partner of the African Angel Academy (AAA), an initiative dedicated to training angel investors across Africa. As a private investor, David participates in Rally Cap, an angel syndicate and fund that supports fintech and climate tech founders in emerging markets.

He has advised the FMO Ventures TA program, collaborated with the FCDO on developing the new 5-year strategy for British International Investment (BII), and supported various GIZ programs. Additionally, David has worked with organizations such as Venture Capital for Africa (VC4A), Dutch NGO Spark, and the Ignite Foundation, all of which champion entrepreneurship across the African continent. In 2014, David co-founded the African Business Angel Network (ABAN) and served as its first executive director from 2015 to 2019. He organized the first six editions of the Africa Early Stage Investment Summit – AESIS (2013–2018), which became a leading startup event in Africa.

Before transitioning into early-stage investing and entrepreneurship support, David spent 15 years in the corporate sector, primarily with the Danish shipping conglomerate Maersk, where he launched and managed (and occasionally closed down) companies across diverse markets, including West Africa, Egypt, Russia, India, and the USA. He holds degrees in Economics, Business Administration, and International Relations from the University of Oregon, Nyenrode Business University, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, and Clingendael, the Netherlands Institute of International Relations.