Opportunities in Africa’s Startup Ecosystem

Welcome to Lucidity Insights' third and final episode in this three-part podcast series, where we take a look at the Future of Fintech in Africa. We filmed this series in Q4 2023. In this episode, we look at where the opportunities lie for investors looking at the African continent as a whole, and we find that most deal flow is concentrated in the wealthiest economies. Interestingly, nearly half of all of the wealth generated on the African continent is driven by Nigeria, South Africa and Egypt, and this is also where the most robust startup ecosystems lie. If we were to add the "plus two" markets that investors refer to, that would include Kenya and Ghana. I talk about the number of scale-ups across the continent (who have successfully raised at least US $1 million), and that over 60% of scale-ups call the top three markets home. 1/3rd of all scale-ups in Africa are fintechs, showcasing how powerful and dominant this sub-sector is. Finally, we speak into some of the challenges to achieving scale in Africa, and growing to become a pan-African player. Happy learning!