Foreign investments in Nigerian startups experienced a significant decline, falling by 65.83% year-on-year to $410 million in 2023, down from $1.2 billion in 2022.
This decline has caused Nigeria to lose its leading position in total startup investments on the continent to Kenya.
The firm commenting on this fall stated, “Nigeria is the country where the most dramatic change happened in 2023.” While Nigeria still had the highest number of startups raising $100k or more (146, 29% of the continent), the total amount raised plummeted by 67%, reaching $410 million compared to $1.2 billion in 2022 and $1.7 billion in 2021.
Consequently, Nigeria’s share of Western African funding continued to decrease, reaching 68%, down from 85% in 2021 and 77% in 2022. This marks the lowest regional share of any Big Four market since data collection began in 2019.
Source: PUNCH