Africa increasingly attractive to venture capitalists

In an ultra low yield global investment environment, the African startup and entrepreneurial landscape is looking increasingly attracting to global investment capital that is not afraid of a little risk.

In 2019, African startups attracted US1.34 billion in funding - up from under US$200 million in 2015.

'Last year the amount of venture capital channeled into African opportunities surpassed the $725.6M raised in 2018 by nearly $500M. There were over ninety African companies that raised over a million dollars each in 2019, with Nigerian companies attracting the lion’s share of over $650 million.' - via

'In terms of the number of deals, all inclusive, Nigeria outperformed all other location with a total of  136 deals. South Africa, which gave it a close competition stood second with 107 deals, followed by Kenya with 73 deals. This trend has a slight deviation from the last year where South Africa had topped the chart.' - via

Even though the big money is starting to salivate at the opportunities that the growing African tech and startup ecosystem presents, the real challenge for entrepreneurs on the continent remains access to seed and angel investors; very few options exist to just help get the business ball rolling.

Technology solutions that leverage blockchain fundraising may just help to ease the issues around liquidity associated with early-stage investing in Africa, but there is still some way to go before these options become viable on a mass scale.

Ironically then the stagnant global economy may have killed the demand for Africa's minerals and resources, but has consequently sparked a race for yield from its entrepreneurs.

What will be important however is that tech companies in Africa will need to have a solid business model in play and have a proven track record of commercial viability before the likes of sovereign wealth funds and Goldman Sachs come knocking, but at least the indicators are pointing in the right direction.