INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Dorsey) and big Chinese startup investment energized that.The last 12 months served as a grande finale to 10 years that saw triple-digit
decade of rapid growth in African tech.IPOsThe story of the year is the April IPO on the NYSE of Pan-African e-commerce company Jumia
unpredictability.Founded in 2012, Jumia pioneered much of its infrastructure to sell goods to consumers online in Africa.
With Nigeria as
its base market, the Rocket Internet-backed company created accompanying delivery and payments services and went on to expand online
verticals into 14 African countries (though it recently exited a few)
Jumia now sells everything from mobile phones to diapers, and offers online services such as food-delivery and classifieds.Seven years after
came under attack from short-seller Andrew Left, whose firm Citron Research issued a report accusing the company of fraud
second-quarter earnings call when the company disclosed a fraud perpetrated by some of its employees and sales agents
heap of capital and is on pace to generate more than $100 million in revenues in 2019 (albeit with big losses).The company plans to reduce
Jumia to rebuild shareholder confidence in 2020: avoid scandals and increase revenues over losses
Events in 2019 point to Interswitch becoming the second African digital company to list on a global exchange in 2020
The Nigerian fintech firm confirmed to TechCrunch in November it had reached a billion-dollar unicorn valuation, after a (reported) $200
(then) predominantly cash-based economy
Interswitch has been teasing a public listing since 2016, but delayed it for various reasons
year when Chinese actors pivoted to African tech
China is known for its strategic relationship with Africa, based (largely) on trade and infrastructure
commercial network, which includes browser, payments and ride-hail services.In August, San Francisco and
The company raised ? $394 million, some of which it is directing toward venture funding and operational expansion in Africa.The last quarter
of 2019 brought a November surprise from China in African tech
More than 15 Chinese investors placed over $240 million in three rounds
and digital finance startups.Kenya has held this title hereto, with the local success and global acclaim of its M-Pesa mobile-money product
But more founders and VCs are opting for Nigeria as the epicenter for digital finance growth on the continent.A rough tally of 2019
million over the last 12 months
expansion strategies.The founder of early-stage payment startup ChipperCash, Ham Serunjogi, explained the imperative to operating there
2019 VC numbers are counted, it will be worth matching up fintech stats for Nigeria to Kenya to see how the countries
compared.AcquisitionsTech acquisitions continue to be somewhat rare in Africa, but there were several to note in 2019
volume of programs, startups incubated and global visibility
Canal+ told TechCrunch it looks to bring Mary and the Nollywood production ethos to produce content in French-speaking African
looking to scale on-demand taxi services
Uber and Bolt got into the motorcycle taxi business in Africa in 2018.A number of local and foreign startups have continued to grow in key
countries, such as Nigeria, Uganda and Kenya.A battle for funding and market share emerged in Nigeria in 2019, between key moto ride-hail
startups MAX.ng, Gokada and Opera-owned ORide.The on-demand motorcycle market in Africa has attracted foreign investment and moved toward EV
e-motorcycles in Africa.In August, the government of Rwanda announced a national policy to phase out gas-motorcycle taxis altogether in
favor of e-motos, in partnership with early-stage EV startup Ampersand.New fundsThe past year saw several new funding initiatives for
capital pool aimed at Series A to C-stage startup investments in fintech, logistics, AI, ag tech and education tech.Accion Venture Lab
launched a $24 million fintech fund open to African startups.And Naspers offered more details on who can pitch to its 1.4 billion rand
(?$100 million) Naspers Foundry fund, which made its first investment in online cleaning services company SweepSouth.Closed up shopLike any
tech ecosystem, not every startup in Africa killed it or even continued to tread water in 2019
down its Kwese TV digital entertainment business in August.And South Africa-based, Pan African-focused cryptocurrency payment startup Wala
ceased operations in June
startups go global2019 saw more startups expand to new markets abroad products and business models developed in Africa
Mines) had announced its expansion to Brazil on a $20 million Series B raise.2020 and beyondAs we look to what could come in the new year
Twitter/Square CEO Jack Dorsey may do around Bitcoin and cryptocurrency on his return to Africa (lookout for an upcoming TechCrunch feature
hopefully for the better.More notable 2019 Africa-related coverage @TechCrunch
