Indeed the recent boom in start-ups especially in tech and innovative finance in Africa has attracted a lot of investors from all over the world. Investments have continued to flow into Africa’s tech ecosystem which has risen dramatically over the past few years. Is this going to be the case of the rejected stone becoming the chief cornerstone, only time will tell.
Just recently tennis star Serena Williams and NBK capital partners have joined a growing number of investors in African startups seeking to take advantage of the tech and innovative -finance boom on the continent. Williams Serena ventures, A&T capital, distributed global, and others participated in raising $6.5 million for Nigerian crypto products developer Nestcoin.
This is not the first time the tennis star is investing in Africa. She has previously invested in Andela, an organization that cultivates IT talent in Africa, which also provides leading global technology companies with access to a high-skilled resource pool.
Tekedia Mini-MBA edition 16 (Feb 10 – May 3, 2025) opens registrations; register today for early bird discounts.
Tekedia AI in Business Masterclass opens registrations here.
Join Tekedia Capital Syndicate and invest in Africa’s finest startups here.
This is indeed a great time for a start-up in Africa. According to statistics, in the first half of 2021, African startups raised a whopping sum of $1.19 billion and it keeps getting better, surpassing the amount raised in the previous years. During my research, I discovered the major reason for the drastic growth of startups in Africa. One of the reasons is that some organizations have helped support entrepreneurs. Such organizations like Boost Africa, Y Combinator, the future Africa find, etc, are all providing investment, technical support to African entrepreneurs.
This is a very commendable act because at the end of the day it’s a win-win affair. According to statistics Fintech seems to be leading. As in 2018 fintech start-ups received the most investment in Africa. Across the 93 deals that took place, fintech accounted for 40% of total funding raised and also accounted for five of the top 10 largest deals. In Africa, Nigeria, South Africa, and Kenya, obviously the continent’s most advanced and valuable tech ecosystems, continue to dominate as the continent’s leading investment destinations.
The development of startups in Africa has positively improved the economy with investors pumping in money here and there. Like its global counterparts, Africa has put in place multiple innovative companies to bolster urbanization and create strong growth in the economy.
African startups have realized that startups are the world’s engine of change. With more startups rising in Africa, there will be more jobs available to job seekers and it will help in improving the future of technology development and growth of the global economy.