Economy

How to Raise Funds for Your Startup Despite Coronavirus

Published

6 years ago

15/06/2020

By Damilola Faustino

With the coronavirus pandemic, you would think venture capitalists and angel investors would stop scouting for African startups to invest. This is wrong.

In the past few months, African startups in different sectors have raised significant dollars and more are still coming as the coronavirus lockdown is gradually being eased across Africa.

African startups that recently raised funds

1.) Tomato Jos: Tomato Jos, an agro-processing company focused on the local production of high-quality tomato paste for the African market announced that it had completed a €3.9 million ($4.2 million) Series A round.

2.) BusyMed, a South African healthtech startup raised undisclosed funding from LionPride, a Venture Capital Investor. The investment was facilitated by HAVAIC.

3.) 54gene, a Nigerian genomic startup, raised a $15 million investment led by Adjuvant Capital to allow the company to scale operations in support of generating novel insights from human genetics research.

4.) uLesson, a Nigerian-based education technology startup, has announced participation in its seed funding round by Founder Collective, a marquee seed-stage venture capital fund.

5.) Brimore, an Egyptian direct end-to-end distribution Startup has closed $3.5 million pre-Series A round led by Algebra Ventures.

6.) Finnfund invested $1 million in Kasha, a Rwandan-based e-commerce platform improving women’s access to genuine health, hygiene, and self-care products in East Africa.

7.) East Africa Fruits Co., a Tanzanian company addressing food distribution challenges to improve efficiencies in the farm-to-market sector, announced that it closed Series A equity funding totalling $3.1 million.

8.) Flutterwave, an African fintech startup raised a $35 million Series B funding round co-led by Grey Croft & eVentures. The round was joined by CRE Ventures, FIS, Visa, Green Visor, and Endeavor.

As a founder, you too can raise funds…here is how

There is no doubt that it is difficult to raise funds during this coronavirus pandemic. So far, in the WeeTracker Q1 funding report, 86 deals were announced. They estimate that total funding from these disclosed deals totalled $245.13 million.

Regardless this should not deter you. In fact, it should be a morale booster because even Venture Capitalists are setting up venture funds and raising huge sums to support African startups.

Novastar announced that it closed its Novastar Ventures Africa Fund II at $108 million to support startups in both East and West Africa.

Harambe Entrepreneur got $1 million from Cisco Systems Inc. and a foundation of South African businessman Jonathan Oppenheimer to support African technology startups and help kick-start the return of venture capital to the continent following the coronavirus outbreak.

Raising funds:

1.) Find tech ways to run your business and do not stop innovating

The new normal is working from home. The question you should ask yourself is how do I run my business despite the coronavirus? The simple answer is technology. Deploy an affordable tech strategy to make your customers know you are still existing.

2.) Apply for funding and join accelerators

There are unlimited funding opportunities out there for African startups. You have to apply for these them. Also, apply to join accelerators.

3.) Disclose your funding needs to your network

If you need funding, reach out to friends and network. They may connect you to an investor especially if you have a solid pitch and scalable product to back up your funding claims.

Economy

TotalEnergies Sells 10% Stake in Renaissance JV to Vaaris

Published

2 hours ago

14/01/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

TotalEnergies EP Nigeria has signed a Sale and Purchase Agreement with Vaaris for the divestment of its 10 per cent non-operated interest in the Renaissance JV licences in Nigeria.

The Renaissance JV, formerly known as the SPDC JV, is an unincorporated joint venture between Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (55 per cent), Renaissance Africa Energy Company Ltd (30 per cent, operator), TotalEnergies EP Nigeria (10 per cent) and Agip Energy and Natural Resources Nigeria (5 per cent), which holds 18 licences in the Niger Delta.

In a statement by TotalEnergies on Wednesday, it was stated that under the agreement signed with Vaaris, TotalEnergies EP Nigeria will sell its 10 per cent participating interest and all its rights and obligations in 15 licences of Renaissance JV, which are producing mainly oil.

Production from these licences, it was said, represented approximately 16,000 barrels equivalent per day in company’s share in 2025.

The agreement also stated that TotalEnergies EP Nigeria will also transfer to Vaaris its 10 per cent participating interest in the three other licences of Renaissance JV which are producing mainly gas, namely OML 23, OML 28 and OML 77, while TotalEnergies will retain full economic interest in these licences, which currently account for 50 per cent of Nigeria LNG gas supply.

Business Post reports that the conclusion of the deal is subject to customary conditions, including regulatory approvals.

“TotalEnergies EP Nigeria has signed a Sale and Purchase Agreement with Vaaris for the sale of its 10 per cent non-operated interest in the Renaissance JV licences in Nigeria.

“Under the agreement signed with Vaaris, TotalEnergies EP Nigeria will sell to Vaaris its 10 per cent participating interest and all its rights and obligations in 15 licences of Renaissance JV, which are producing mainly oil. Production from these licences represented approximately 16,000 barrels equivalent per day in the company’s share in 2025.

“TotalEnergies EP Nigeria will also transfer to Vaaris its 10 per cent participating interest in the 3 other licenses of Renaissance JV, which are producing mainly gas (OML 23, OML 28 and OML 77), while TotalEnergies will retain full economic interest in these licenses, which currently account for 50 per cent of Nigeria LNG gas supply. Closing is subject to customary conditions, including regulatory approvals,” the statement reads in part.

The development is part of TotalEnergies’ strategies to dump more assets to lighten its books and debt.

Economy

NGX RegCo Revokes Trading Licence of Monument Securities

Published

11 hours ago

14/01/2026

Aduragbemi Omiyale

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

The trading licence of Monument Securities and Finance Limited has been revoked by the regulatory arm of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Group Plc.

Known as NGX Regulations Limited (NGX Regco), the regulator said it took back the operating licence of the organisation after it shut down its operations.

The revocation of the licence was approved by Regulation and New Business Committee (RNBC) at its meeting held on September 24, 2025, a notice from the signed by the Head of Market Regulations at the agency, Chinedu Akamaka, said.

“This is to formally notify all trading license holders that the board of NGX Regulation Limited (NGX RegCo) has approved the decision of the Regulation and New Business Committee (RNBC)” in respect of Monument Securities and Finance Limited, a part of the disclosure stated.

Monument Securities and Finance Limited was earlier licensed to assist clients with the trading of stocks in the Nigerian capital market.

However, with the latest development, the firm is no longer authorised to perform this function.

Economy

NEITI Advocates Fiscal Discipline, Transparency as FG, States, LGs Get N6trn in Three Months

Published

12 hours ago

14/01/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has called for fiscal discipline and transparency as data showed that federal government, states, and local governments shared a whopping N6 trillion Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) disbursements in the third quarter of last year.

In its analysis of the FAAC Q3 2025 allocation, the body revealed that the federal government received N2.19 trillion, states received N1.97 trillion, and local governments received N1.45 trillion.

According to a statement by the Director of Communication and Stakeholders Management at NEITI, Mrs Obiageli Onuorah, the allocation indicated a historic rise in federation account receipts and distributions, explaining that year-on-year quarterly FAAC allocations in 2025 grew by 55.6 per cent compared with Q3 of 2024 while it more than doubling allocations over two years.

The report contained in the agency’s Quarterly Review noted that the N6 trillion included 13 per cent payments to derivative states. It also showed that statutory revenues accounted for 62 per cent of shared receipts, while Value Added Tax (VAT) was 34 per cent, and Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL) and augmentation from non-oil excess revenue each accounted for 2 per cent, respectively.

The distribution to the 36 states comprised revenues from statutory sources, VAT, EMTL, and ecological funds. States also received additional N100 billion as augmentation from the non-oil excess revenue account.

The Executive Secretary of NEITI, Mr Sarkin Adar, called on the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) FAAC, the National Economic Council (NEC), the National Assembly, and state governments to act on the recommendations to strengthen transparency, accountability, and long-term fiscal sustainability.

“Though the Quarter 3 2025 FAAC results are encouraging, NEITI reiterates that the data presents an opportunity to the government to institutionalise prudent fiscal practices that will protect the gains that have been recorded so far in growing revenue and reduce vulnerability to commodity shocks.

“The Q3 2025 FAAC results are encouraging, but windfalls must be managed with discipline. Greater transparency, realistic budgeting, and stronger stabilisation mechanisms will ensure these resources deliver durable benefits for all Nigerians,” Mr Adar said.

NEITI urged the government at all levels to ensure the growth of Nigeria’s sovereign wealth and stabilisation capacity, by committing to regular transfers to the Nigeria Sovereign Wealth Fund and other related stabilisation mechanisms in line with the fiscal responsibility frameworks.

It further advised governments at all levels to adopt realistic budget benchmarks by setting more conservative and achievable crude oil production and price assumptions in the budget to reduce implementation gaps, deficit, and debt metrics.

This, it said, is in addition to accelerating revenue diversification by prioritising reforms that would attract investments into the mining sector, expedite legislation to modernise the Mineral and Mining Act, support reforms in the downstream petroleum sector, as well as the full implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) to expand domestic refining and value addition.