Despite the growth recorded by its startup ecosystem, five African countries performed better than Nigeria in a tech ecosystem of the future ranking report released Monday.
The ranking was conducted by fDi Intelligence, a specialist division of the Financial Times.
According to the report, South Africa took first place overall, and also first place for Economic Potential, Start-Up Status, and Business Friendliness.
It was followed by Kenya that took second place, both overall and in economic potential.
Egypt, Ghana and Tunisia took third, fourth, and fifth places respectively. Nigeria ranked sixth in the 17 overall rankings.
“Despite South Africa and Kenya’s tech prowess, Nigeria topped all locations for number of start-ups, with many of them operating within the fintech sector, taking advantage of the under-provision of banking services in the country,” the report said.
“Although Lagos is renowned for its start-up ecosystem, there is a significant disconnect between the city’s tech ecosystem, its surroundings and the wider country, which suffers from chronically poor infrastructure and education, and recurring political instability and security issues.
“This challenging environment prevents Nigeria from excelling in any specific category of the fDi Tech Ecosystems of the Future ranking.”
Last year, the tech ecosystem in Nigeria got a boost as there were expansions abroad, successful acquisition processes, and more funding in the different sectors.
A fintech company based in the United States, Stripe, acquired Paystack, a Lagos-based startup in a deal reportedly worth over $200m.
Another Lagos-based startup, Co-creation Hub Nigeria (CcHUB), acquired Kenyan ed-tech startup eLimu.
Recently, Flutterwave announced it got funding worth $170 million from investors to expand its customer base in existing and international markets and to develop new products.
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