Nigeria has ranked highest in start-ups among other countries in Africa, a report by fDi Intelligence, a specialist division of the Financial Times, has stated.
An analysis of the report by Tolu Olasoji in the Leadership newspaper indicated that while Nigeria can boast of the largest number of start-ups in the Africa technology ecosystem, it lags in other important metrics.
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The report compiled by fDi Intelligence in partnership with Briter Bridges, said investment in the continent’s start-up space is tiny in comparison to the global North. For example, US start-ups raised $156.2bn in venture capital last year, per Pitchbook. By comparison, African start-ups have raised just more than $2bn in the past two years, according to data.
Seventeen countries were selected for evaluation based on being home to several tech hubs, having more than 50 start-ups, and attracting investments greater than $500,000 between 2019 and 2020.
While South Africa ranked first place in the advancement of start-ups, Kenya came second.
But in terms of capacity, Nigeria had the highest volume of start-ups – over 750. South Africa came second, but its start-ups raised $241m raised in 2020, compared to Nigeria’s $64.1m.
The country was missing altogether in the top 10 for categories that are critical to helping a start-up thrive beyond its founding, including cost effectiveness and the level of countrywide tech talent. It also only ranked sixth for business friendliness.
This highlights the frustrating state of conducting business in Nigeria by entrepreneurs, the analysis stated.
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