A recent report by Disrupt Africa, a research platform that covers news on African tech startups, disclosed that a total of 238 tech startups in Nigeria had raised $2.068 billion in the last 7 years.
This feat reportedly supersedes what any other African country received in the period, adding that Nigeria is the most popular investment destination on the continent.
At least, 481 tech startups across Nigeria, were in operation as of September 2022, employing over 19,000 people, with Fintech being the most populated sector, which is more than one-third of the country’s tech startups currently active.
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In the report, it revealed that at least, 383 individual Nigerian tech startups raised a combined US$2,068,709,445 in funding between January 2015 and August 2022, more than any other country in that period.
According to the ‘Nigerian Startup Ecosystem Report 2022, the Nigerian startups have so far raised a total of $747.9 million this year.
Commenting on the report is co-founder of Disrupt Africa Gabriella Mulligan who said that Nigeria has for quite a long time, been pioneering a startup ecosystem on the African continent, which has made the country home to so many investors.
See what he said:
“Nigeria has long been a pioneering startup ecosystem on the African continent, leading the way in various sectors and increasingly becoming a focus for investment. It is high time we dug deeper into its growth, and this report does just that.
“We hope it serves as a valuable resource for both those already active in Nigeria and those looking to start doing business there soon.”
There is no disputing the fact that Nigeria’s startup ecosystem is responsible for some of the most interesting innovations on the African continent, with Fintechs dominating most of these startups.
Investors from across the world continue to pump money into Nigerian fintech startups, due to the fact that the digitization and transformation of African financial services is still at infancy.
The Nigerian startup ecosystem has maintained its growth trajectory within the African continent, with the country being home to (5) unicorns – Flutterwave, OPay, Andela, Interswitch, and Jumia on the continent.
On the other hand, the African tech sector has continued to witness exponential growth in the past five years. The tech startups in the region took center stage in 2021 when they reached an inflection point as companies raised over $4 billion, more than what they raised in 2019.
Nigeria represents the vast majority of the funding raised in Western Africa since 2019. Tech startups in the country raised 32.8% of the funds raised.
