Скачать с ютуб INVESTORS ARE RUSHING INTO AFRICAN STARTUPS | African Tech Startups | Arthur Speiser Media в хорошем качестве

INVESTORS ARE RUSHING INTO AFRICAN STARTUPS | African Tech Startups | Arthur Speiser Media

#techstartups #africa #investers WHY INVESTORS ARE RUSHING INTO AFRICAN START-UPS For years, Africa was derogatively known as the dark continent, dismissed by much of the rest of the world. Even today, most western media coverage on Africa is mainly focused on famine, Ebola, political instability and violence from militia. While this is true for some countries, today the continent is simply too big to ignore. Africa’s population is growing faster than any other continent. The UN estimates that by 2050 it’s population will double to 2.5 billion and if the growth rate is consistent, by 2100 one person in three will be African. The rapidly increasing consumer population coupled with favorable policies and cheaper labour has attracted many investors to this vast and untapped market. An area in the economy most investors prefer is the tech space. The inception of the tech space in Africa commenced when the governments started promoting the use of internet in people’s daily lives. They did this by digitalizing work places, universities, hospitals and schools and encouraged the use of cellphones and social media for faster communication. Sea cables coming into Africa in the late 1990s and early 2000s coupled with an increased number of computer literate population, accelerated the growth of technology in the continent. It has been an upward trend since then. Last year, the sector attracted a record 5 billion US dollars, more than the total amount raised in the previous three years combined. To get a better understanding of how big this investment was, simply put it this way, an average of 1 million US dollars raised every two hours. The “Big Four” countries- Nigeria, South Africa, Egypt and Kenya receiving 81% of these investments. 2021 also saw the creation of a record number of five unicorns (private companies valued over 1 billion dollars); Flutterwave, Andela, ChipperCash, Opay, and Wave. While much funding came from global investors, local investors are increasingly funding African innovation. This boost in local venture capital participation will aid the growth and expansion of start-ups in Africa. So, why are foreign investors putting lots of money into startups? Why take the risk with these small African companies rather than investing in already established and proved entities then export products to Africa? The obvious answer is that exporting is really costly and might prove unprofitable in the long run. That one everyone knows. To better understand the real reason behind the investments in the continent, let me bring to light a recent report from surveyed opinions of 4,500 Africans from Kenya, Nigeria, and Ghana. According to the report, 9 out of 10 (91.7%) are likely to use technology solutions that are made in Africa. The survey also revealed that 92% of the people described Africans as being innovative and entrepreneurial. When the people were asked of which African technology stories they were most excited to read about, 29.8% said: “funding- stories”, closely followed by “expansion stories” (28%) and “partnership stories” (27%). So, what does this report tell any prospective foreign investor? 1) African’s have faith in their products. 2) Many people in the continent are ready to embrace African made products simply because they provide solutions to existing problems they face in everyday activities. 3) African governments are ready to welcome any type of funding that will lead to technological advancement. The other reason for the boom in investments is the rise in tech talent in Africa. Africa has the youngest population in the world with 70% of the population, living in sub-Saharan Africa is under 30. With youth, comes the zeal and hunger to make an impact in your community if not the world. This extra motivation by African tech workers to not only make a living through tech but also make their community a better place has intrigued investors. Seeing entrepreneurs who are constantly working towards solving real life problems, has attracted numerous investments as they align with most investors’ beliefs and practices. Moreover, labour costs of workers in Africa are relatively low compared to countries such as the US, UK, Australia and Canada. Outsourcing from Africa means that Investors would get high returns at a relatively low cost. Who wouldn’t want that? Furthermore, the governments in Africa have created a conducive environment that favors the success of startups. The adoption of these forward-thinking policies has accelerated some countries GDP, for example startups raised $222 million to Senegal’s economy in 2021. This accounted for 0.88% of the national GDP. This clearly shows the added value of tech for economies. Some of the policies in the continent that promote entrepreneurship are;