Nigeria Emerged As 2018 Premier Investment Spot In Africa With 58 Tech Start-Ups — Report

Fifty-eight technology start-ups in the country attracted investments worth $95m in 2018.

Disrupt Africa, in its 2018 African Tech Startups Funding Report, said a total of $334.5m worth of investments were secured by 210 start-ups in Africa.

It noted that figures were a substantial leap from that of 2017, adding that the number of start-ups that raised funds grew by 32.1 per cent and total funding increased by 71.5 per cent.

The report said Nigeria emerged as the premier investment destination on the continent in 2018, with 58 start-ups raising a total of $94.91m.

According to the report, South Africa, which had topped the list for several years, fell behind with 40 businesses, raising $59.97m, while Kenya ranked third in terms of the number of start-ups that raised funds.

Ventures Africa noted that in 2015, South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya accounted for more than 80 per cent of total funding raised.

In 2018, the figure fell to 61.8 per cent as investors are increasingly looking beyond the traditional “big three” start-up ecosystems and other African countries are emerging as viable alternative destinations for funding.

This is largely influenced by Egypt’s rise as a destination for funding, with the country’s start-ups raising $58.9m in 2018, clearly establishing it as a leading hub on the continent.

Companies in 16 other African countries also secured investment.

A co-Founder of Disrupt Africa, Gabriella Mulligan, said it had been an incredible year for tech start-ups in Africa.

She said it was a pleasure to release the report and the impressive figures it contained.

According to her, the continent’s entrepreneurs grabbed the attention of investors, accelerators, and media both locally and globally in 2018 with their innovative solutions and business models.

“It is great to be able to report on such strong results across our ecosystem,” Mulligan added.

Sector-specific research showed that the fintech sector remained the most popular among investors, attracting 39.7 per cent of the total funds raised on the continent.

The sector secured $132.75m, accounting for 39.7 per cent of total funds raised.

Although it was an increase on previous years, there were strong signs of progress in other sectors, with multiple ed-tech, e-commerce, e-health, transport, logistics and agri-tech start-ups raising funding as investors saw opportunities in many areas.

The co-Founder, Disrupt Africa, Tom Jackson, said, “The African tech space continues on its upward trajectory, with more start-ups than ever before securing record levels of funding in 2018.

“Investment levels are not the only way of gauging the health of local ecosystems, but they are a valuable way of following the sector’s progress and they demonstrate that, increasingly, if you have an innovative tech solution to a problem, with a strong business model, there are pathways to funding should you require it to scale.”

Source: Punch