An African investor sees dozens of pitch decks a month. On a first read they spend two to three minutes on each. Your deck therefore has one job: to earn a second meeting. It does not sign the cheque, it opens the door. That nuance changes everything about how you build it.
Here is the structure that works, slide by slide, with what the reader is really looking for.
The deck tells a story, not a list
A good pitch deck follows a narrative. There is a broken world (the problem), a solution, proof it works (traction), and a possible future if you are given the means. Each slide should make the reader want to turn to the next. If your slides are Excel tables glued end to end, you have lost.
The essential slides
Slide 1 — Cover
Name, logo, one sentence saying what you do. "Kolonell — the digital agency equipping West African SMEs." No jargon.
Slide 2 — The problem
A real pain, quantified, illustrated by a concrete case. Show you understand the ground better than anyone. In Senegal, anchor the problem in a local reality (a merchant losing sales for lack of mobile payment, an SME invisible on Google).
Slide 3 — The solution
What you do, simply. A screenshot or diagram is worth a thousand words. Explicitly tie the solution back to the previous slide's problem.
Slide 4 — The product
How it works concretely. The user journey in three steps. If you have a demo, this is where people want to see it.
Slide 5 — The market
TAM / SAM / SOM with credible, sourced numbers. Not the "1 percent of Africa" myth. Show the market you can truly reach within three years.
Slide 6 — The business model
How you make money. Price, margin, recurrence. One line should make it clear: "subscription at 20,000 FCFA per month, 70 percent gross margin."
Slide 7 — Traction
The slide that makes or breaks the deal. Growth curve, revenue, active users, signed partnerships, letters of intent. Even modest, real traction beats every promise. If you are pre-revenue, show the signals: waitlist, test results, first pilots.
Slide 8 — Competition
Who does what in your market, and why you are different. A table or a two-axis matrix. Never say "we have no competitors": that signals you do not know your market.
Slide 9 — The team
The faces, the roles, the relevant experience. Early-stage investors bet first on people. Show why this specific team will win.
Slide 10 — Financials and projections
Past and projected revenue over three years, break-even, main cost lines. Keep it readable: three curves, not thirty rows.
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Slide 11 — The ask
How much you are raising, at what indicative valuation, and above all what for. "We are raising 80 million FCFA for 18 months of runway: two sales hires, product development, expansion to Abidjan." Tie every franc to a milestone.
Slide 12 — Contact and vision
How to reach you, and one closing sentence projecting the five-year vision. You leave them on ambition, not on an email address.
What investors really look at
Beyond the slides, three things matter. Clarity: do they understand in two minutes. Traction: do you have proof people want this. Team: do they trust your ability to execute. The rest is secondary at early stage. A fund like Partech Africa, Janngo Capital or a business angel network like Dakar Network Angels will judge on those axes first.
Mini case: Wave and the slide that needs no speech
When Wave, the mobile payment fintech deeply rooted in Senegal, presented its traction to investors, the message fit in a single curve: the number of transactions exploding month after month, with fees radically lower than competitors. No adjectives needed. The data spoke. It is the perfect illustration of the principle: at early stage you tell a vision, at growth stage you show a curve. The more traction you have, the simpler your deck becomes.
Mistakes to avoid
Too much text per slide. Jargon. Absurd financial projections (10 billion FCFA in revenue by year 3). Hiding the competition. A vague ask. Forgetting to say what the money is for. And reading your slides word for word during the presentation instead of looking at the people.
The send deck and the presentation deck
Make two versions. The deck you email must stand alone, so a little more text. The deck you project in a meeting must be stripped down: you are the one talking, the slides illustrate. Do not confuse the two.
FAQ
How many slides for a pitch deck?
Ten to twelve for the presentation version. Beyond that you lose attention. Put the detail in an appendix for questions.
Should I put the valuation in the deck?
State the amount raised and its use. The precise valuation is negotiated in the meeting; an indicative range is enough in the deck.
What if I have no revenue yet?
Show other forms of traction: users, waitlist, test results, letters of intent, partnerships. And be transparent about your stage.
What tool should I use to build a pitch deck in Senegal?
Canva, Google Slides or PowerPoint are enough. Content matters more than the tool. What counts is readability and visual consistency with your brand.
How long should a pitch presentation last?
Three to five minutes for the pitch, then over to questions. Practice staying within that time; an investor also judges your ability to get to the point.
Let's talk about your project. Kolonell builds clear pitch decks and investor materials for West African startups. Message us on WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
