West African Startup Decade Report (2010-2019)

The West African Startup Decade Report is an in-depth analysis of the funding activities of Internet startups in the region between 2010 and 2019. It breaks down founders by their experience and education, and considers industries the startups belong to as well as interested investors, among others.

Over the last decade, increasing Internet penetration has given rise to Internet entrepreneurs who are using technology and the Internet to address local challenges. In 2010, except for Nigeria and Cape Verde with 11.5% and 30%, respectively, less than 10% of the West African population was using the Internet. Worthy of note is that as of 2010, Cape Verde’s population was just 490,000.

As of 2017, most countries in the West African Region had over 10% of their population using the Internet; however, today, the region’s Internet penetration figures tell a different story. And with this increase comes a rise in Internet entrepreneurship, with Nigeria - the biggest and most populous nation in the region - providing most of the entrepreneurs.

It is in the light of this that the publisher took on the responsibility of looking into the funding activities on the Internet startup scene for the last decade, focusing on startups that have raised a million dollars, cumulatively; the result of the endeavour is the West African Startup Decade Report (2010-2019).

The report breaks down the funding activities by startup industries; startups that participated in acceleration or incubation programmes were also compared to their counterparts that did not. A couple of industries that these startups belong to were spotlighted as well as the opportunities present.

The report also breaks down founders by gender, experience, education, and origin, while also exploring the relationship between the number of founders and amount raised. Origin of investors and the industries they invested in and the investment deals they participated in were also considered.

Key report features:

• The West African technology market overview
• Overview of some West African countries
• Breakdown of funding activities by industries
• Accelerated vs non-accelerated West African startups
• Industry spotlight with opportunities
• Breakdown of founders by gender, experience, education, and origin
• Founder spotlight
• The relationship between the number of founders and the amount raised
• Origin of investors
• Industries they invested in
• Investment deals they participated in
• A list of featured startups