On A Positive Path

Q. There has been significant activity in the African tech ecosystem. Do you see this sector growing, at least in terms of diversity of funding for fintech startups in Nigeria? Are there any figures to quantify or further illustrate this?

. Technology has developed into one of the highest interest emerging sectors for private equity and venture capital investment in Africa. According to AVCA’s , published in April 2021, there were 572 reported. The sector is poised for exponential growth as the continent catapults further into a digital revolution, bringing efficiency, reducing fragmentation and driving innovation within and across entire sectors. The improving depth and breadth of digital connectivity on the continent is gaining international recognition: eight of the 25 economies identified as outperformers (countries with high scores relative to their level of economic development) in the 2020 edition of the were from sub-Saharan Africa. These strides towards digitalization across the continent will catalyze further public and private investment in the sector. Nigeria attracted 14% of PE and VC fund investment in Africa’s technology sector (2015-2020) and we expect this trend to continue going forward. Particularly, the fintech industry in Nigeria experienced significant increase in 2020 and attracted increasing [interest] from a wide range of domestic and institutional investors. In 2020, fintech companies in Nigeria raised $112 million from investors; we can certainly expect to see an increase in commercial capital allocated to the same.