Overall, the number of investors in African tech startups jumped by 61 percent during the period to hit 261/AFP
NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan 21 – Kenya remains Africa’s lead market for total funding of its tech startups, by securing a whooping US149 million – Sh15.04bn in 2019.
This is according to the African Tech Startups Funding Report 2019, which outlines the fintech sector as the most popular area of investment.
The report ranked Nigeria second behind Kenya, followed by Egypt, which pushed South Africa out of the third spot.
“Egypt continued its development into a major continental tech hub, with more startups from the North African country securing investment than anywhere else. However, South Africa’s growth slowed during the period,” says the Disrupt Africa sponsored report.
Overall, the number of investors in African tech startups jumped by 61 percent during the period to hit 261.
Of the number, 77 fintech startups raised US$107 million -Sh10.8bn.
The report however notes that fintech’s share of total funding fell to 21.8 percent from 39.7 percent of other sectors – notably logistics, transport, e-commerce, agri-tech and e-health – enjoyed bumper years.
“With investors increasingly looking beyond the established hubs of South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya for opportunities, the continued development of the Egyptian tech space is a key trend, while Disrupt Africa also tracked investment in an additional 15 African countries,” Disrupt Africa’s Co-Founder Tom Jackson told Forbes.
“Investment in the African tech space continues to grow and grow, and at the current rate of development it won’t be too long before we are talking about it breaching the US$1 billion mark,” he told the publication.
