Until recently there were so many gaps in Africa’s technology entrepreneurship ecosystem that new startups did not have much of a chance of success, according to a report in AllAfrica.

The creators of the Angel Africa network and its Angel Fair event next week in Sandton, Johannesburg, hope to change all that, the report said.

The idea was to create a network of angels who could provide early startup money, networks, mentoring and other contacts. “We want to help people go through the classic cycle from idea to product to business more easily,” said Angel Africa network co-founder and longtime ICT activist Eric Osiakwan.

“In Silicon Valley, they know how to take care of all this,” Osiakwan said. “But in Africa, you need to provide what we’re calling ‘mentor financing’… all the things that wrap around the finance itself.”

Osiakwan and Angel Africa co-founder Jamie Clyde approached the organizers of Johannesburg’s annual FNB Joburg Art Fair, which is patronized by high-net-worth individuals looking to buy artwork. Out of this was born the idea for Angel Fair, which will be held next week in Johannesburg before the annual art fair.

A workshop is planned for the startups on how to pitch their businesses. There will be a panel on how angel investing works with people who’ve been doing it, talking about their experiences. Then there will be 10 pitches of three minutes each.

Startups in need of financing will “tell us what you do and what’s so exciting about it and you get to mingle with the angel investors afterwards,”  Osiakwan said. “They meet to do deals: it’s putting together the high-net-worth individuals with early start-ups.”

A second panel will include people who have benefited from angel investors, along with a second round of pitches. There will be 25 startups present; 20 get to do a pitch.

Ten startups announced so far include five from South Africa and the rest from Ghana, Uganda, Kenya, Nigeria and Senegal: Solar Light Africa; Bozza (self-generated talent content); Redcore Interactive (money transfer); MySmartFarm (agricultrual information and management); SleepOut.com (hotel booking); KIPH (menswear retailer); Decasio (cloud-based solutions); Headboy Industries (dry bath gel); Xtreme Design and Engineering (cloud hospitality solutions); and Chowhub (restaurant discovery).