Nigeria received the largest share of the $4 billion in startup funding that Africa, in particular, attracted in 2021, with $1.37 billion.

Four countries emerged at the top, as expected: Nigeria, South Africa, Egypt, and Kenya. They accounted for 80% of total capital raised on the continent up until the end of November, with Nigeria accounting for 35% of total capital raised.

According to new data from “Africa: The Big Deal,” the total funding raised by African startups for deals worth $100,000 or more was broken down.

In 2021, Nigerian startups raised $1.37 billion, while South African startups raised $838 million, Egypt raised $588 million, and Kenya raised $375 million. Nigeria has over 200 deals for the year, while the other three countries each have over 100 deals.

Senegal, where startups raised $222 million in 2021, and Tanzania, where startups raised $96 million, were also mentioned.

Chipper Cash, which raised a total of $250 million this year, was one of the biggest success stories. The authors, Max Cuvellier and Maxime Bayen, decided not to attribute the funding to Ghana, claiming that the startup’s Ghanaian and Ugandan co-founders, as well as its African headquarters in Ghana and Kenya, “make it quite pan-African.”

Without Chipper Cash, Ghana raised $48 million in 2021, Algeria $30 million, Morocco $29 million, Tunisia $23 million, Uganda $18 million, Rwanda $16 million, the Democratic Republic of the Congo $12 million, and Cameroon $11 million.

According to the report, the dominance of male-led and male-founded start-ups in South Africa and Nigeria is consistent with the rest of the continent. During the 2019-2021YTD period, male CEOs signed 92 percent of over $1 million deals (93 percent in value); 80 percent of such deals (85 percent in value) were secured by all-male founding teams, that is, male single founders and male-only founding teams.

The Guardian reported in October that Nigerian Fintechs had bypassed the Nigerian stock exchange for $876.5 million in funding from outside sources in the previous six years. They approached venture capitalists (VC) in the United States, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, and Belgium.

For example, from 2014 to 2020, Fintechs raised approximately $600 million in funding, accounting for 25% ($122 million) of the $491.6 million raised by African tech startups in 2019 alone – second only to Kenya, which raised $149 million.

These figures were confirmed by McKinsey’s report, “Harnessing Nigeria’s Fintech Potential.” Furthermore, according to a fund announcement analysis conducted by TechCrunch and TechCabal, Nigerian startups raised $276.5 million in the first seven months of 2021.

According to the analysis, Fintechs accounted for 95.95 percent of the funds raised during this time period, with Flutterwave accounting for a large portion of this ($170 million). Edutech, health technology, and communications technology accounted for 4.05 percent of the total amount raised.

MEANWHILE, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has stated that the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) needs to entice Fintech firms raising capital outside of the country to list on the country’s bourse in order to deepen the market.

Osinbajo, speaking at the 2021 Capital Market Conference in Abuja, expressed concern about Fintech companies and start-ups’ inability to access capital market funds.

He stated that in order for Nigeria’s Fintech ecosystem to be sustainable, existing and emerging financial services startups would need access to the capital market.

According to him, attracting fintech unicorns to the market as a viable option for capital raising would allow more investors to benefit from these companies’ growth and create wealth for the economy.

He believes that Nigeria needs to establish strong venture capital and private equity funds to support small businesses with significant growth potential.