Economy
Nigerian Startups Attract $1.2bn from $4.8bn Inflow to Africa in 2022
By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria remained the most dominant force when it came to funding raised in 2022 as the country saw a total of $1.2 billion injected by investors in startups, according to estimates seen by Business Post.
In a report, Africa: The Big Deal, Nigerian startups, in the year under review, saw 286 deals worth more than $100,000.
This is even as there was a 29 per cent drop in funding into the country compared to $1.7 billion recorded in 2021. For context, Nigeria recorded $440 million in 2020 and $704 million in 2019.
The country recorded two $100 million+ mega deals in 2022, led by Flutterwave’s $250 million Series D in February and Interswitch’s $110 million round announced in May. This is a drop compared to five deals on record in 2021.
“Nigeria is still the largest market by far in terms of funding (286 $100k+ deals, +14% YoY | $1.2bn, -29% YoY),” the report noted.
In 2022, Western Africa was the region that attracted the largest share of both fundings as it recorded 37 per cent of the investments that came into the continent. It also held the lead in the number of $100,000+ deals (37 per cent also) on the continent.
Overall, Nigeria has seen its regional hegemony further challenged in 2022, with its share of regional funding down 17 percentage points to 68 per cent. In 2021, it had 85 per cent, and it was 88 per cent in 2020, while it stood at 92 per cent in 2019.
The West African region topped the charts in 2021, with 37 per cent of deals and an even higher share of funding then (43 per cent). However, last year, the numbers went down 12 per cent to $1.8 billion compared to $2 billion in the preceding year.
East Africa continued in the second spot as it raked in $1.2 billion.
However, the report fingered noted that most of this dip recorded by Nigeria is due to Ghana’s very strong performance in 2022. The country recorded 47 deals over $100,000 for a total of nearly $400 million (estimating PEG Africa’s acquisition by Bboxx at $200m), nearly 8x times more than in 2021. Ghana ranked #5 at the continent level in terms of funding raised in 2022.
Senegal (#6) followed with 19 $100,000+ deals (same as 2021) and $112 million raised (-50 per cent Year-on-YearoY). Its unicorn, Wave, continued to dominate the numbers, though with 82 per cent of the amount raised in 2022 (with $90 million+ in debt secured), and 90 per cent in 2021 (through its $200 million Series A round).
Further behind is Côte d’Ivoire, with a stable amount of $100,000+ deals (12) but saw a 300 per cent increase in funding to $34 million compared to $11 million.
Togo recorded $10 million following Gozem’s $10 million deal with the International Finance Corporation (IFC).
The report noted that while Mali, Sierra Leone, and the Benin Republic also raised some funding, seven countries in the region recorded no deal at all over $100,000 in 2022.
“Finally, it is worth noting that Western Africa punches above its weight with a higher percentage of funding (37%) than its share of the continent’s population (30%) or GDP (27%). The same goes for its heavyweight Nigeria (25% of Africa’s funding vs. 15% of its population and 17% of its GDP).
“The region averages $4.2 of funding raised per capita, which is over the continental average ($3.2pc). For Nigeria, this number stands at $5.5pc,” the report noted.
Continent-wide, the total amount of funding recorded by African startups amounted to $4.84 billion in 2022, a 7.6 per cent increase from $4.46 billion recorded in 2021.
By Dipo Olowookere
The local stock market firmed up by 1.13 per cent on Friday as appetite for Nigerian stocks remained strong.
Investors reacted well to the 2026 budget presentation of President Bola Tinubu to the National Assembly yesterday, especially because of the more realistic crude oil benchmark of $64 per barrel compared with the ambitious $75 per barrel for 2025. This year, prices have been between $60 and $65 per barrel.
Business Post observed profit-taking in the commodity and energy sectors as they respectively shed 0.14 per cent and 0.03 per cent.
But, bargain-hunting in the others sustained the positive run, with the consumer goods index up by 3.82 per cent.
Further, the industrial goods space appreciated by 1.46 per cent, the banking counter improved by 0.08 per cent, and the insurance industry gained 0.04 per cent.
As a result, the All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 1,694.33 points to 152,057.38 points from 150,363.05 points and the market capitalisation chalked up N1.080 trillion to finish at N96.937 trillion compared with Thursday’s closing value of N95.857 trillion.
A total of 34 shares ended on the advancers’ chart, while 24 were on the laggards’ log, representing a positive market breadth index and bullish investor sentiment.
Austin Laz gained 10.00 per cent to close at N2.42, Union Dicon also jumped 10.00 per cent to N6.60, Tantalizers increased by 9.80 per cent to N2.69, Aluminium Extrusion improved by 9.78 per cent to N12.35, and Champion Breweries grew by 9.71 per cent to N16.95.
Conversely, Sovereign Trust Insurance dipped by 7.42 per cent to N3.87, Royal Exchange lost 6.84 per cent to trade at N1.77, Omatek slipped by 6.84 per cent to N1.09, Eunisell depreciated by 5.88 per cent to N80.00, and Eterna dropped 5.63 per cent to close at N28.50.
Yesterday, traders transacted 1.5 billion units worth N21.8 billion in 25,667 deals compared with the 839.8 million units sold for N32.8 billion in 23,211 deals in the preceding session, showing a surge in the trading volume by 76.61 per cent, an uptick in the number of deals by 10.58 per cent, and a shrink in the trading value by 33.54 per cent.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Three stocks stretched the bearish run of the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 1.21 per cent on Friday, December 19, with the market capitalisation giving up N26.01 billion to close at N2.121 billion compared with the N2.147 trillion it ended a day earlier, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) dropping 43.47 points to 3,546.41 points from 3,589.88 points.
The trio of FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, and NASD Plc overpowered the gains printed by four other securities.
FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc lost N6.00 to sell at N54.00 per unit versus N60.00 per unit, NASD Plc shrank by N3.50 to N58.50 per share from N55.00 per share, and CSCS Plc depleted by N2.91 to N33.87 per unit from N36.78 per unit.
On the flip side, Air Liquide Plc gained N1.01 to close at N13.00 per share versus N11.99 per share, Golden Capital Plc appreciated by 70 Kobo to N7.68 per unit from N6.98 per unit, Geo-Fluids Plc added 39 Kobo to sell at N5.50 per share versus N5.11 per share, and IPWA Plc rose by 8 Kobo to 85 Kobo per unit from 77 Kobo per unit.
During the trading day, market participants traded 1.9 million securities versus the previous day’s 30.5 million securities showing a decline of 49.3 per cent. The value of trades went down by 64.3 per cent to N80.3 million from N225.1 million, but the number of deals jumped by 32.1 per cent to 37 deals from 28 deals.
Infrastructure Credit Guarantee Company (InfraCredit) Plc finished the session as the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 5.8 billion units valued at N16.4 billion, followed by Okitipupa Plc with 178.9 million units transacted for N9.5 billion, and MRS Oil Plc with 36.1 million units traded for N4.9 billion.
The most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis was still InfraCredit Plc with 5.8 billion units worth N16.4 billion, trailed by Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with 1.2 billion units sold for N420.7 million, and Impresit Bakolori Plc with 536.9 million units traded for N524.9 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
It was not a good day for the Nigerian Naira at the two major foreign exchange (FX) market on Friday as it suffered a heavy loss against the United States Dollar at the close of transactions.
In the black market segment, the Naira weakened against its American counterpart yesterday by N10 to quote at N1,485/$1, in contrast to the N1,475/$1 it was traded a day earlier, and at the GTBank forex counter, it depreciated by N2 to settle at N1,467/$1 versus Thursday’s closing price of N1,465/$1.
In the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) window, which is also the official market, the nation’s legal tender crashed against the greenback by N6.65 or 0.46 per cent to close at N1,464.49/$1 compared with the preceding session’s rate of N1,457.84/$1.
In the same vein, the local currency tumbled against the Euro in the spot market by N2.25 to sell for N1,714.63/€1 compared with the previous day’s N1,712.38/€1, but appreciated against the Pound Sterling by 73 Kobo to finish at N1,957.30/£1 compared with the N1,958.03/£1 it was traded in the preceding session.
The market continues to face seasonal pressure even as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is still conducting FX intervention sales, which have significantly reduced but not remove pressure from the Naira. Also, there seems to be reduced supply from exporters, foreign portfolio investors and non-bank corporate inflows.
President Bola Tinubu on Friday presented the government’s N58.47 trillion budget plan aimed at consolidating economic reforms and boosting growth.
The budget is based on a projected crude oil price of $64.85 a barrel and includes a target oil output of 1.84 million barrels a day. It also projects an exchange rate of N1,400 to the Dollar.
President Tinubu said inflation had plunged to an annual rate of 14.45 per cent in November from 24.23 per cent in March, while foreign reserves had surged to a seven-year high of $47 billion.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market was dominated by the bulls but it continues to face increased pressure after million in liquidations in previous session over accelerating declines, with Dogecoin (DOGE) recovering 4.2 per cent to trade at $0.1309.
Further, Ripple (XRP) appreciated by 3.9 per cent to $1.90, Cardano (ADA) rose by 3.5 per cent to $0.3728, Solana (SOL) jumped by 3.4 per cent to $126.23, Ethereum (ETH) climbed by 2.9 per cent to $2,982.42, Binance Coin (BNB) gained 2.0 per cent to sell for $853.06, Bitcoin (BTC) improved by 1.7 per cent to $88,281.21, and Litecoin (LTC) soared by 1.2 per cent to $76.50, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.
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