- The State of the Global Startup Economy
- Ecosystem Lifecycle Analysis
- Global Startup Ecosystem Ranking 2022 (Top 30 + Runners-Up)
- Rankings 2022: Top 100 Emerging Ecosystems
- Global Startup Sub-Sector Analysis
- Why Founders Should Be Open and Direct About Their Values
- What You Need to Know Before You Start Fundraising
- Diversity in Startups: When it Helps and When it Hurts
- Three Essentials To Creating a Strong Sense of Community in Emerging Ecosystems
- How to Get Mentoring Right
- Europe Insights, Rankings & Ecosystem Pages
- London’s Tech Scene: A World-Class Ecosystem Competing on a Global Scale
- Discover Portugal: An Unbeatable Value Proposition for Startups
- How Startups are Creating a Future-Proof Economy in Rotterdam
- North America Insights, Rankings & Ecosystem Pages
- Local Connectedness Is Driving Indiana’s Thriving Startup Ecosystem
The Global Startup Ecosystem Report 2022
Africa Insights, Rankings & Ecosystem Pages
Investment in African tech startups in 2021 was unprecedented, at $1.6 billion total (excluding MENA countries) — a 113% increase from 2020. It’s looking like 2022 will be an even bigger record-breaker, with total VC investment in Q1 at $1.1 billion.
Fintech is the continent’s most successful sub-sector, accounting for $571 million in funding and producing all three of the region’s unicorns. In March 2021, Lagos-based Fintech Flutterwave raised $170 million in a Series C round at a valuation of $1 billion. In spring 2022, it became the highest valued African startup to date at $3 billion. Lagos mobile payment platform OPay secured a $400 million Series C round in August 2021, taking its valuation to $2 billion. Dakar-based Wave Mobile Money is the region’s third unicorn. Nairobi online-processing company DPO Group also made headlines when it exited at $288 million in July 2020.
Lagos is the region’s leading ecosystem and has a strong Fintech industry, but mobile payment usage is high across much of Africa. Kenyans have made mobile wallet and phone payments a critical part of their everyday lives to the degree that transactions account for 87% of the nation’s GDP. In Ghana, such transactions make up 82% of GDP. Kenya is easily the larger market, but Ghana has become the fastest-growing mobile money market on the continent in recent years.
Key Findings
Africa produced three unicorns in the GSER 2022 time period, all Fintechs.
Lagos is the most successful startup ecosystem in the region, producing two unicorns — Flutterwave and OPay.
Investment in African tech startups increased 113% from 2020 to 2021, at $1.6 billion total.
Africa has seen 110% growth in Series B+ rounds from 2020 to 2021.