Report<\/a> for 2020. Distinct startup geographies are emerging in Africa, each with the potential to become its own powerhouse,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\nIn addition, the World Bank predicts that two thirds of the world\u2019s GDP growth will occur in cities over the next fifty years. Lessem says Africa\u2019s rapid urbanisation is a welcome development as cities foster greater economic potential, business collaboration, and technological innovation needed to leapfrog traditional infrastructure, which can result in creating thriving tech ecosystems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHAVA\u00cdC sees Southern Africa, dominated by South Africa; Anglophone West Africa, led by Nigeria; Francophone West Africa, dominated by Cote d’Ivore and Senegal; East Africa led by Kenya; and North Africa dominated by Egypt, as key African geographies to pay close attention to. Each are quite different, with some of them tackling more regional challenges and others offering globally scalable solutions,\u201d notes Lessem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A diversity of businesses are emerging in critical sectors such as e-health, fintech, security and education, as African startup investment continues its upward trajectory, having increased year-on-year for the past five years. \u201cWest African hubs like Lagos have benefitted hugely from locals being skilled abroad and returning home where a young, bourgeoning middle class are open to new fintech propositions as we have seen from the likes of Flutterwave. While in Nairobi, an influx of foreign direct investment and financing from national development finance institutions, coupled with international skills transfers, have contributed to creating a flourishing startup environment,\u201d says Lessem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He adds that Cairo\u2019s access to favourable funding and product distribution from the Middle East is unique on the continent. \u201cEgypt\u2019s large local customer base and proximity to major international hubs in the UAE, Qatar, Oman and Saudi Arabia make it a strong B2B (business to business) and B2B2C (business to business to consumer) regional player. Of course, South Africa\u2019s strong blue chip corporate base and financial and digital infrastructure have ensured the country\u2019s startups have been able to enter developed markets with their seamless tech competing toe-to-toe in international markets.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn both English and French speaking West Africa, there are significant B2B2C opportunities, thanks in part to the development and growth of cities like Dakar, Abidjan and Lagos. Ultimately, massive improvements in infrastructure, maturing financial markets and broader access to higher education are laying the foundation for Africa\u2019s tech hubs and signal an exciting future for the continent\u2019s startups who prove time and time again they can compete with the best in Silicon Valley, London and Singapore,\u201d Lessem points out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
HAVA\u00cdC\u2019s own investment thesis is centred around investing in local African tech businesses that have the ability to scale and service both regional and global markets. \u201cOur ability to invest locally, strategically nurture, and help internationalise our portfolio is what sets us apart. More than ever before, investing and supporting local, growing innovation with the potential for global elevation, is a smart investment decision at the heart of Africa\u2019s future,\u201d Lessem says. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
On the back of Cape Town being recognised as the tech capital of Africa, topping international rankings for foreign direct investment strategy, Ian Lessem, Managing Partner at HAVA\u00cdC \u2013 investors in early-stage, high-growth technology businesses \u2013 says several other African cities are quickly emerging as leading startup and investment hubs to watch. \u201cStartups in Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt and South Africa […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5192,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5191","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/techandbiz.com.ng\/tab-backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5191","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/techandbiz.com.ng\/tab-backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/techandbiz.com.ng\/tab-backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techandbiz.com.ng\/tab-backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techandbiz.com.ng\/tab-backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5191"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/techandbiz.com.ng\/tab-backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5191\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techandbiz.com.ng\/tab-backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5192"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/techandbiz.com.ng\/tab-backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5191"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techandbiz.com.ng\/tab-backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5191"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techandbiz.com.ng\/tab-backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5191"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}