According to an article by Tech Crunch, Africa has one of the fastest-growing tech markets, and Nigeria is becoming its unofficial capital. American, Chinese, and European investors are gravitating towards Nigeria.
In 2019, Africa’s tech scene drew more global attention than any previous year.
The end of last decade boasted of a triple-digit increase in startup formation and Venture Capital (VC)—a type of financing provided to small, early-stage, or emerging firms that are estimated to have high growth potential, or which have demonstrated high growth.
In the annual funding report by WeeTracker, Africa received 1.3 billion dollars in startup funding in 2019. This was the first time Africa ever crossed the 1-billion-dollar mark.
Nigeria was the top startup investment destination—with 49.5% of investment received. Nigeria ranked top for both the number of deals done and value. Records showed that Nigeria’s startup investment received had a five-fold growth compared to 2018.
Also, in 2019, Jumia became the first African startup to list on a major global exchange. Jumia has been dubbed the ‘Amazon of Africa’. It operates in 14 countries and was founded in Lagos in 2012 with the backing of ‘Rocket Internet’.
However, critics ask if Jumia can actually be counted as an African startup, for though the original co-founders were Nigerian tech entrepreneurs (Tunde Kehinde and Raphael Afaedor), both left in 2015 to form other startups in fintech and logistics, and the CEO of Jumia Group in Germany, as well as many executives on the board, are Europeans.
That being said the company is headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria, and the CEO of the country’s operation is Juliet Anammah, in addition, the company pays taxes on the African continent and employs 5,128 people in Africa.
Lagos’ CcHub bought Nairobi’s Ihub (Investors Hub), last year. The CEO of CcHUB (Co-creation Hub Nigeria), Bosun Tijani was quoted as saying the aim of this is to “create a robust platform that’s capable of attracting the best resources and partnerships to accelerate the application of technology and innovation for economic prosperity across Africa”.
CcHUB is one of the best known of Africa’s 618 active tech hubs, and according to GSMA, the Global System for Mobile Communications, it is the “backbone of Africa’s tech ecosystem”.
In 2016, Mark Zuckerberg’s first destination during his surprise visit to Nigeria, was CcHUB.
Another reason one might call Nigeria the tech capital of Africa is because of Lagos, dubbed Africa’s Silicon Valley.
Below are some examples of successful tech startups in Lagos;
- Andela: aims at finding the brightest young people in Africa and giving them the rigorous training and mentorship they need to thrive as full-time, remote developers for companies around the world. They have offices in Nigeria, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and the United States.
- Interswitch: an Africa-focused integrated digital payments and commerce company that aids the electronic circulation of money in addition to the exchange of value between individuals and organisations on time and consistently.
- Paystack: founded by Ezra Olubi and Shola Akinlade, Paystack is a fintech company that has received 11.7 million dollars in funding. It deals with payment for Africa providing a modern, secure payment gateway and it powers thousands of businesses of all sizes including government agencies, telcos, and airlines.
- Piggyvest (formerly Piggybank): founded by Joshua Chibueze, Odunayo Eweniyi and Somto Ifueze, it has received 1.2 million dollars in funding and it is a fintech company that aims at developing a savings culture in millions, helping them to save and also increasing financial intelligence
- ULesson: founded by former owner of Konga, Sim Shagaya, it has raised $3.1 million in seed funding and is an edtech startup that provides an education kit for learning at home or on the go.
In Africa, Nigeria is the country with the largest economy and population, as a result, an increasing number of tech VCs are deriving a strong social impact, deepening value, and robust return on investment (ROI).
However, all these are evidence as to why Nigeria may be the tech capital of Africa in terms of finances it is drawing in the tech sector. In terms of technological advances, and in terms of problem-solving, can Nigeria really be deemed as the tech capital of the African continent?
What do you think? Would you say Nigeria is the unofficial tech capital of Africa or is that just the viewpoint of optimistic patriots?
Leave your thoughts in the comment section below!
Love this and want more? Read others like it, right here, every week!
Your article helped me a lot, is there any more related content? Thanks!