A report by the ‘Africa: The Big Deal,’ has revealed that startups in Nigeria and other African nations raised $3.1bn in the first six months of 2022.
The African tech startups beat the down rounds, mass layoffs, and bankruptcies rocking the global tech space to raise $1.3bn in the second quarter of 2022.
This was disclosed by the database and insights firm which focuses on startup funding above $100,000 in Africa.
Africa: The Big Deal’s Maxime Bayen was quoted as saying, “If we didn’t know the global context, and just looked at the numbers, no one right now would be talking about a slowdown in tech funding in Africa.”
The firm stated, “Startups in Africa have raised $1.3bn in Q2 2022, which adds up to $3.1bn in the first half of the year.
“Let me put it this way: June 2022 was the ecosystem’s strongest June ever in terms of fundraising. Q2 2022 was the ecosystem’s strongest Q2 ever. H1 2022 was the ecosystem’s strongest H1 ever. And we’re not talking small increments here; we’re talking 2.7x, 2.3x, and 2.4x year-on-year growth, respectively.”
According to the report, fundraising in Nigeria has begun to dip unlike South Africa, Egypt, and Kenya where funding is still on the rise, although overall funding across all the nations has witnessed an increase year-on-year.
It said, “Is there a darker story to tell if you start digging into each of the Big Four’s data? Well, not really. June 2022 was much stronger than June 2021 in South Africa (6.4x YoY), Egypt (3.4x), and Kenya (3.3x); only in Nigeria do we see a dip (-30 per cent), which does not weigh down on its Q2 and H1 numbers though.
“Indeed, Q2 2022 was stronger than Q2 2021 across the board: 12x in Kenya, 2.4x in Egypt, 2.3x in Nigeria, and 1.3x in South Africa. And finally, H1 2022 really has got nothing to envy to H1 2021 in Kenya (5.2x YoY), Egypt (3.2x), or Nigeria (2.3x).
“Even in South Africa, where numbers so far this year had been a cause for concern, MFS Africa’s Series C $100m ‘top-up’ in June means that results for H1 2022 ended up almost on par with the H1 2021 performance (-0.6 per cent YoY).”
The firm added that inflation, food insecurity, bear markets, supply chain issues, and others would affect the growth and ability of startups on the continent to scale.
It explained that funding into Africa might not continue the ascendency it has had in the first half of the year.
It concluded, “But because the next part of the journey might be a bit rocky, shouldn’t make you forget how much of a blast you’ve had so far. Q3 will be decisive — especially because it was so very strong last year — but there is definitely room for optimism. Here’s hoping that future numbers don’t contradict me too much.”
