Nigerian startups raised $4.6bn, produced 5 unicorns in 5 years

Nigeria might have lost its top spot for venture funding in Africa to Kenya, but the country’s tech startup market remains the most funded of all time, in Africa, having raised N4.6 billion in venture funding in over 5 years. 

This was disclosed in a report by the African startup analytics company, Africa the Big Deal. According to it, Nigeria’s five-year total represents 29 per cent of the $16.2 billion total funding attracted into the African startup ecosystem, making the country the choicest destination for venture funding.

This announcement comes even as Nigeria has been displaced as the top venture funding destination over the last two years by Kenya. Startups in the East African country raised $638 million last year, representing 29 per cent of the total $2.2 billion raised on the continent in 2024.

“There is no denying the weight of Nigeria and the broader region in the African ecosystem overall, though things have shifted since the end of the funding heatwave in mid-2022,” the report reads.

Nigeria’s dominance is also reflected in the performance of West Africa, as the region emerged as the most-funded region since 2019. With $5.8 billion, the region accounts for 36 per cent of the total $16.2 billion raised.

Nonetheless, just like Nigeria, the regional dominance appears to be weakening as it has emerged behind the East African region in the last year. West African Startups raised a total of $587 million in 2024. This represents 27 per cent of Africa’s total of $2.2 billion for the year. This is well behind East Africa, where startups raised $725 million or 33 per cent. 

While this weakening is not great news for the region, the good news is that, unlike other regions where one superpower controls an overwhelming majority of venture funding, West Africa’s funding scene appears to be a little more spread out than the rest. 

For instance, in last year’s funding numbers, while Nigeria controlled a 70 per cent share of funding total in the region, the country did not enjoy the extent of leadership that Kenya (88%), Egypt (84%) and South Africa (99.2%) have in their respective regions.

See also: Startup funding: Kenya is Africa’s most preferred destination in 2024

The trend has remained the same over the last 5 years, showing how the region is indeed emerging as a multi-market powerhouse. Indeed, West Africa is home to four countries that have attracted $100m or more since 2019.

This is more than any other region. Ghana the fifth largest market in Africa by funding, raised $460 million. Senegal, ranked sixth, raised $410 million. Benin raised $133 million, while Côte d’Ivoire attracted $107 million.

“Indeed, during the heatwave and the period leading to it (2020 to mid-2022), West Africa had attracted 41% of the continent’s start-up funding, almost double the share of the second-most attractive region (East Africa, 22%). Since mid-2022, however, this share has dropped to 25%, with East Africa (30%) claiming the top spot,” the report reads.

Nigeria currently has 5 unicorns, more than any other African country

Nigeria’s funding dominance is further reflected in its performance at the apogee of venture funding: unicorn status. Currently, the country boasts 5 unicorns, all valued well above $1 billion.

They include Andela (2021), Interswitch (2019), Flutterwave (2021), Opay (2021), and the latest unicorn to be minted in the country, Moniepoint (2024). 

Together, these Nigerian unicorns make up a group of 15 West African startups that raised 55 per cent of the region’s total funding over the last five years. Not surprisingly, 13 of these 15 West African startups are from Nigeria.

The two non-Nigerian startups include Wave Mobile Money, which has raised nearly $300 in funding and is responsible for 71 per cent of Senegal’s total funding since 2019, and Spiro, which has raised over  $100 million and is responsible for 85 per cent of Benin’s total.

The other 45 per cent of venture funding into West Africa was attracted by over 685 other startups that raised at least 100,000 dollars in the last five years.