Start-ups in Nigeria, Kenya, and Egypt receive high praise for their innovation in tech

The conference, which was organized in partnership with the Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises Development Agency (MSMEDA), aimed to bring together more than 600 direct investment specialists from 50 different nations who are responsible for more than US$1.5 trillion in assets.

During one of the panel sessions, African venture capitalists were questioned about which firm in their portfolios most excites them and they had these to say;

1. Twiga: Streamlining supply chains

Twiga, a Kenyan start-up, was picked out by Maurizio Caio, the founder and managing partner of TLcom Capital. Twiga which was founded in 2014, uses a smartphone app to link farmers with small business owners. When a seller runs out of a certain item, they may use the Twiga app to make an order, and the firm will fill it from its warehouse or a smallholder farmer directly and ship it out within 24 hours. Twiga also made a $10 million investment in its own agricultural operations through a new subsidiary called Twiga Fresh last year.

2. Touch and Pay: Digitising micro-transactions for the transport sector and beyond

LoftyInc Capital Management managing partner Idris Bello spoke highly of Nigerian fintech startup Touch and Pay. Bus fares in Nigeria can be paid for by commuters using the product which the startup offers called the Cowry card. Bello compared it to the Oyster card in London. Customers’ Cowry wallets may be used for more than just transportation; they can also be used for financial transfers, airtime purchases, payments for interstate travel, and merchant transactions.

3. Fuelin: Managing fuel consumption

Flat6Labs’ chief investment officer Dina El Shenoufy mentioned Fuelin, an Egyptian company that provides a platform for logistics firms to track and manage the fuel usage of their fleet. Fuel expenditures may make up 50–60% of a company’s yearly income in an environment of volatile oil prices and significant inflation, therefore effective management is essential.

In 2022, the World Economic Forum disclosed that 92% of Africa’s investment in tech is won by just four countries: Nigeria, Egypt, Kenya, and South Africa. A similar report a year prior, by the African Development Bank (AfDB), showed that these four countries account for about a third of the continent’s start-up incubators and accelerators and receive 80% of foreign direct investment (FDI) into Africa.

According to the seventh edition of Disrupt Africa’s African Tech Startups Funding Report, the main four startups collectively raised $1.9 billion in 2021, accounting for 92.1% of all investments made in Africa. The big four’s domination in Africa’s startup industry has been a long-standing trend, as evidenced by the most recent statistics. So it comes as no surprise that the start-ups lauded at the African Private Capital Association’s annual conference come from 3 of Africa’s big four tech innovators.