Nigerian and other African financial technology (fintech) startups have raised over $2.7 billion since 2021.
In its 'Finnovating for Africa 2023' study, Disrupt Africa revealed that the number of African fintech companies increased by 17.7% in the previous two years, reaching 678.
The report claims that this was comparable to the 17.3% rise between 2019 and 2019 and between 2017 and 2023 as a whole. There are now 1 Po25.2% more fintech businesses operating in Africa.
"Total investment per year has been on a fairly steady upward trajectory since 2016, but growth has been especially impressive in the last two years," according to Finnovating for Africa 2023. Since 2021, the number of sponsored companies has almost doubled, and in the past 24 months, the ecosystem has seen an influx of more than $2.7 billion.
According to additional analysis of the data by connectingafrica.com, more than $3.6 billion has been raised by 540 fintech startups from 25 nations since 2015, which is three times more than any other industry.
The report claims that this expansion is occurring all throughout the continent, with the exception of South Africa, all significant markets reporting an increase in the number of active ventures.
Particularly quickly developing nations include Egypt and Nigeria, where the number of fintech businesses has increased by 66.7 percent and 50 percent, respectively, during the past two years.
As a result, the "big three" markets of Nigeria, South Africa, or Kenya are home to about 68 percent of Africa's fintechs. This percentage share is essentially unchanged from a share of 67.9 percent in 2021 and a share of 65.2 percent in 2019.
The survey noted that the fintech market is trailing in the area in terms of founder gender balance.
It highlighted that only 7.7% of the financial businesses monitored by the 2023 report had a female CEO, and that only 15% of them had at least one female co-founder.