Four numbers that describe Africa's tech ecosystem

Jan 06, 2023|Nnamdi Ifechi-fred

2022 was an eventful year from all indications. Last year we witnessed several events that had wide ripple effects and put the global economy under strain, from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to the US Federal Reserve hiking rates to reign in inflation. The spillover effects of these reinforced the lessons we took away from the year of COVID-19, 2020—that the world is more interconnected than we realise and that events happening in one geography have an effect in another geography even though separated by thousands of kilometres.

Key takeaways

Four notable statistics about Africa’s ecosystem include $4.85 billion raised by startups, $1.26 billion closed by VCs, 1,679 layoffs, and six (6) reported scandals.
The combination of Investors with a war chest and startups desperate but unable to raise funding as quickly as they would have in 2021 means that Investors will wield more influence on their portfolio companies.
These numbers taken together tell us that we have a unique opportunity in 2023 to build companies that will have resilience and sustainability ingrained into their DNA, which would, in the long run, be net positive for all stakeholders.

We can even see the effects of at least the Fed’s interest rate hikes on the funding flowing to Africa’s startup ecosystem. At the same time, the ecosystem had its own share of occurrences worth discussing. This article looks at four notable statistics about Africa’s ecosystem. So if you’re interested in getting a snapshot of what went down, keep reading.