Africa’s technology ecosystem has raised $1.6bn in 2021 so far, compared to $701.5m in 2020, according to a report by Disrupt Africa.
The report was titled ‘African tech startups funding report 2020 and full startup list’.
The $1.6bn was derived from an analysis of the series funding announcements on TechCrunch, although funds raised by venture capitals for future investments were not calculated.
A total of 62 funding assessments were extracted from TechCrunch website. Nigeria and South Africa led in terms of total funds raised and the number of deals.
In an August 11, 2021 report, Disrupt Africa had said that a total of 303 African tech startups had raised a total of $1.18bn, up 69 per cent on 2020’s figure.
According to Disrupt Africa, the number of startups to secure funding and total investment in Africa has continuously increased since 2015.
In 2015, only 125 startups secured investment; in 2016, it grew to 146; 159 in 2017; and 210 in 2018.
In 2019, the number jumped to 311, and climbed to 397 in 2020.
According to Disrupt Africa, the amount of funding raised on the continent has been on the rise since 2017.
In 2017, startups in Africa raised $195.06m; $334.52m in 2018; $491.62m in 2019; and $701.46m in 2020.
Nigerian companies that raised significant funding included OPay, Flutterwave, Kuda, TeamApt, FairMoney and Moove.
The nation has the highest number of tech startups in Africa, according to the African Tech Ecosystem of the Future 2021/2022 Ranking compiled by fDi Intelligence of Financial Times, in collaboration with Briter Bridges.
In February, the Central Bank of Nigeria prohibited banks from dealing in cryptocurrencies. Since then, the Securities and Exchange Commission has banned trading platforms, and the CBN has frozen the accounts of six fintech companies.
– Punch