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 Adedapo Adesanya
Food Concepts Plc neutralized the gains recorded by three securities, returning the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange into the negative territory with a 0.27 per cent loss on Thursday, December 4.
Yesterday, the share price of the parent company of Chicken Republic and PieXpress declined by 34 Kobo to sell at N3.15 per unit compared with the previous day’s N3.49 per unit.
This shrank the market capitalisation of the OTC bourse by N5.72 billion to N2.136 billion from N2.142 trillion and weakened the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) by 9.57 points to 3,571.53 points from 3,581.10 points.
Business Post reports that Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc went down by 50 Kobo to N38.50 per share from N38.00 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc gained 29 Kobo to sell at N55.79 per unit versus N55.50 per unit, and Geo-Fluids Plc added 5 Kobo to close at N4.60 per share compared with Wednesday’s closing price of N4.55 per share.
Trading data indicated that the volume of securities recorded at the session surged by 6,885.3 per cent to 4.3 million units from the 61,570 units posted a day earlier, the value of securities increased by 10,301.7 per cent to N947.2 million from N3.3 million, and the number of deals went up by 146.7 per cent to 37 deals from the 15 deals achieved in the previous trading session.
At the close of business, Infrastructure Credit Guarantee Company (InfraCredit) Plc was the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis with the sale of 5.8 billion units for N16.4 billion, trailed by Okitipupa Plc with 170.4 million units worth N8.0 billion, and Air Liquide Plc with 507.5 million units valued at N4.2 billion.
InfraCredit Plc also finished the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 5.8 billion units transacted for N16.4 billion, followed by Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with 1.2 billion units sold for N420.2 million, and Impresit Bakolori Plc with 536.9 million units traded for N524.9 million.
By Dipo Olowookere
The upward trend witnessed at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited in recent sessions continued on Thursday as it further improved by 0.10 per cent.
This was despite investor sentiment turning bearish after the local equity market ended with 23 price gainers and 28 price gainers, indicating a negative market breadth index.
UAC Nigeria gained 10.00 per cent to finish at N88.00, Morison Industries appreciated by 9.94 per cent to N3.54, Ecobank rose by 8.53 per cent to N36.90, and Coronation Insurance grew by 8.47 per cent to N2.56.
On the flip side, Ellah Lakes depreciated by 10.00 per cent to N13.14, Eunisell Nigeria also shed 10.00 per cent to finish at N72.90, Transcorp Hotels slipped by 9.95 per cent to N157.50, Omatek shrank by 9.23 per cent to N1.18, and Guinea Insurance dipped by 8.46 per cent to N1.19.
Yesterday, the All-Share Index (ASI) went up by 152.28 points to 145,476.15 points from 145,323.87 points and the market capitalisation chalked up N97 billion to finish at N92.726 trillion compared with the previous day’s N92.629 trillion.
Customs Street was bubbling with activities on Thursday, though the trading volume and value slightly went down, according to data.
A total of 1.9 billion stocks worth N19.2 billion exchanged hands in 23,369 deals during the session versus the N2.3 billion valued at N21.0 billion traded in 21,513 deals a day earlier.
This showed that the number of deals increased by 8.63 per cent, the volume of transactions depleted by 17.39 per cent, and the value of trades decreased by 8.57 per cent.
For another trading day, eTranzact led the activity chart with 1.6 billion units sold for N6.4 billion, Fidelity Bank traded 31.0 million units worth N589.3 million, GTCO exchanged 28.3 million units valued at N2.5 billion, Zenith Bank transacted 27.1 million units for N1.6 billion, and Ecobank traded 21.9 million units worth N744.3 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira marginally depreciated against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Thursday, December 4 amid renewed forex pressure associated with December.
At the official market yesterday, the Nigerian currency lost 0.01 per cent or 18 Kobo against the Dollar to close at N1,447.83/$1 compared with the previous day’s N1,447.65/$1.
It was not a different scenario with the local currency in the same market segment against the Pound Sterling as it further shed N15.43 to sell for N1,930.97/£1 versus Wednesday’s closing price of N1,925.08/£1 and declined against the Euro by 20 Kobo to finish at N1,688.74/€1 compared with the preceding session’s N1,688.54/€1.
Similarly, the Nigerian Naira lost N5 against the greenback in the black market to quote at N1,465/$1 compared with the previous day’s value of N1,460/$1 but closed flat against the Dollar at the GTBank FX counter at N1,453/$1.
Fluctuations in trading range is expected to continue during the festive season as traders expect the Nigerian currency to be stable, supported by intervention s by to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)in the face of steady dollar demand.
Support is also expected in coming weeks as seasonal activities, particularly the stylised “Detty December” festivities, will see inflows that will give the Naira a boost after it depreciated mildly last month, according to a new report.
“As the festive Detty December season intensifies, inbound travel, tourism spending, and diaspora inflows are expected to provide moderate support for FX liquidity,” analysts at the research unit of FMDA said in its latest monthly report for November.
Traders cited by Reuters expect that the Naira will trade within a band of N1,443-N1,450 next week, buoyed by improved FX interventions by the apex bank.
Meanwhile, the crypto market was down as the US Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge, core PCE, likely rose in September—moving in the wrong direction. However, volatility indices show no signs of major turbulence.
If the actual figure matches estimates, it would mark 55 straight months of inflation above the US central bank’s 2 per cent target. The sticky inflation would strengthen the hawkish policymakers, who are in favour of slower rate cuts.
Ripple (XRP) depreciated by 4.5 per cent to $2.08, Solana (SOL) went down by 3.8 per cent to $138.11, Litecoin (LTC) shrank by 3.1 per cent to $83.23, Dogecoin (DOGE) slid by 2.5 per cent to $0.1463, Cardano (ADA) declined by 2.1 per cent to $0.4368, Bitcoin (BTC) fell by 0.9 per cent to $91,975.45, Binance Coin (BNB) crumbled by 0.9 per cent to $899.41, and Ethereum (ETH) dropped by 0.7 per cent to $3,156.44, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 apiece.
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