The African tech scene is on fire. In recent years, African tech startups received more than $4.5 billion in investment. There are at least 5 tech unicorn companies that are valued at $1 billion. With so much interest in space, here is all that is trending in the African tech market.

What’s Trending In The Tech Biz?

The tech scene in the African continent has been on a speedy rise. With billions of dollars in investments pouring in for various startups in different countries of Africa, there are a few names that stand out as the unicorns of the tech world in Africa.

Unicorn startups are those that raise at least $1 billion in funding. These startups are based around tech products and services that are witnessing an ever0increasing demand. Let’s dig a bit deeper and see what the hottest tech in Africa is.

•  Jumia – The Largest e-Commerce Operator In Africa

Jumia is e-commerce, Pan-African company. It is a complete e-com tech package with a marketplace, logistics, and a payment service as well. This company launched in 2012 in Nigeria only but since then has expanded to Egypt, Morocco, Kenya, Ivy Coast, and South Africa. The Nigerian e-commerce marketplace has about 10000 active sellers, and this service is one of the most in-demand ones in Africa.

•  Flutterwave – The Future Of Payments

Flutterwave created a new era of online payments with its strong payment infrastructure for not only merchants all around the African continent but also for payment transfers around the globe. This company has operations in Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, South Africa, and a few other African countries. Fintech services are some of the most bought ones on the continent.

• MPesa – Fintech Masterpiece

M-Pesa is a company based in Kenya. It provides money transfer services from mobile phones, other payments, and microfinancing services. This company is the largest mobile operator in Africa.

• Interswitch – The Unicorn For Digital Payments In Africa

Interswitch was founded in Nigeria in 2002, and it soon became the unicorn of African startups with services to integrate digital payments and digital commerce.

• Swvl – All Hail The Ride

Swvl is a “mobility as a service” company that brings tech into play to incorporate digital payments with its ride-sharing services. The company was established in 2017 and is growing to become another unicorn of the African continent.

The Rise Of Fintech

From some of the top companies above, we can clearly see a few hot trends in tech taking over Africa. Fintech is one of the biggest trends in tech currently disrupting this emerging market. Millions of dollars in investments are raised in a seed funding round for fintech companies.

The last two years saw an influx of fintech companies, with an estimated $744 million invested in FinTech in 2020 alone. Overall, the continent has raised over $3 billion in funding for Fintech companies, making for 62% of the total investments.

Other than that, e-Commerce is becoming more popular every day, with companies coming up with ways to make it easier to take and transfer payments worldwide. Ride-sharing and taxi services, which can be called on-demand, are another tech trend that sees a steady rise in the continent.

A Great Investment Opportunity

The recent wave of investment and interest in Africa as the emerging tech market is shattering records worldwide. It is a great time to be investing in the African tech market.

What new tech innovation are you looking forward to in the African continent?