Africa is a land of opportunity long neglected. It is unique and the diversity in cultures may make it difficult for something new to be accepted in society. However, the scenario has changed and African markets have started to gain attention from the past couple of years. Therefore, we can see the rise of African startups as regions progress with time accepting change. Consequently, poverty is going down and the African society promises a safe future and a solid education system for generations to come. Amidst this progress, the number of fintech companies in South Africa is emerging at a rather very fast pace.
As the country is starting to embrace digital payment and banking systems instead of the traditional banking system, it has become easy for African tech startups to grab a hold of the economy.
Financial technology has a good impact all over the world and when it comes to African markets, there is no difference. As the economy is improving the start-up in Africa is starting to hold a strong grip over the market. Hence we can see big companies like Amazon and other industries investing in top fintech companies in Africa. This is reflected any both North Africa and South Africa.
Africa’s financial tech sector (fintech) has astonishing development mostly because of education and access to better resources. These two key factors have pummeled the way for African fintech to not only dominate markets but also to open a new world of opportunities that is influencing the other sectors of the African economy as well. Most traditional banking systems do not recognize the potential in rural and urban areas as those places are considered risky. Access to technology like mobile phones, low transaction costs, and top startups in Africa has helped a lot to undo these risks and in improving lives in these urban areas. This contributes to increasing and improving the livelihood of the families.
Tech startups are also keeping up with the pace as companies like Andela($100 million), BBOXX($81 million), OPay($170 million) shining bright in the African startups 2019 and 2020. And the ongoing pandemic has boomed the production and service this year with a huge annual profit since most people tend to rely more on technology and avoid contact. Only this year about 17 African startups, finalists have been chosen for Space –Tech Challenge 2020 to build a new stage for African entrepreneurs and innovators. Applications by Space-Tech promises to gather information. The demand for such technology has only increased over time after multiple successful applications returning satisfying data.
2018 has been a promising year for African startups with over $1.163 billion raised. Startups like Rera Online farm, Cowtribe Technology, Benefactors (fintech), SydPay, AgroSupply, Read online farm, and many more leading the way. The tren continued in 2019 where companies like Interswitch, OPay, BBOXX, Cowtribe, NALA, Elves, Taimba taking hold of the market. The best startups in Africa manage to break the record from the previous year and raise $1.24 billion. Startups like NALA, Interswitch, Cowtribe, Sydpay continues to grow every year with a promising contribution to the community.
Startups in Kenya among the rest of the countries have been keeping steep and steady progress that is soon to be a part of a huge network. Nearly 87.9% of the entire population connected to the internet, business startups in Kenya like Aza Finance ($15 mil), Paygo Energy($8.4 mil), M-Kopa Solar($10mil), Lori system($6.2mil), Little Ride($10 mil) and many more others have been leading this advance. The most fascinating side about these companies is how they started with enormous budgets and how much ground they have covered in just a short amount of time.
Startups in Kenya in 2018 earned more than $126 million and completed almost 41 deals. Back then the top startups in Kenya were Cellulant, Twiga Foods, M-Kopa, Africa’s Talking, BitPesa, Lori System, and many more. The consistency from then has just kept on rising. Massive achievements have allowed this sector to move forward with great expectations.
The overall scenery emphasizes the fact that the tech communities and startups are starting to rise. This not only is a great economical advance, but it also improves the regional communities along the way. It also opens the door to a variety of job options and allows the young generation to step forward and introduce new ideas. From observing the overall analysis of the markets and the trajectory of success, it is to say that the future of tech startups in Africa is bright.
Photo credit: @rethaferguson RF._.studio (Pexels.com)
