Top African Startups That Have Global Success

The African continent is rising in investments in startups and new technologies, especially since the beginning of the pandemic. 2022 was a record year for African investments, with four countries coming out on top: South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, and Egypt. Let's see what makes them thrive:

South Africa’s tech hubs and startup scene has grown in recent years thanks to technology that can tackle the challenges of economic growth and high unemployment rates in the country. The top three startups to follow from this region are:

Ozow is an online payment platform that facilitates e-commerce without needing a credit card.
Click2Sure is a cloud-based insurance saas
Aerobotics is an agricultural and farming startup that uses AI, software, drones, and machine learning to provide insights to growers.

Kenya leads the innovation game, ranked as the number one country for startups in the region. While fintech is the leading sector in Kenya, the second largest is Artificial Intelligence, with many startups using AI in waste management, agriculture, consultancy, and more, so keep an eye on the top three of Kenya:

WEEE Center is an e-waste management and recycling company.
Paygo a solving the clean cooking crisis with pay-as-you-go clean energy stoves.
Intelipro a customer intelligence and business analytics AI platforms.

Nigeria could be named the unicorn capital of Africa, where Lagos is the country’s most populous city and its largest startup hub. The top three startups you should know about from this region are:

Beat Drone a drone service provider for infrastructure, agriculture, and oil and gas.
Medsaf a medication marketplace for African pharmacies and hospitals.
Interswitch is the first e-payment system linking Nigeria’s banks.

While Egypt has jumped up the charts regarding startup and tech development in the last few years. Unlike its fellow leading ecosystems, whose top sector is fintech, Egypt’s most robust startup sector is e-commerce. Its popularity is driven by the increased use of mobile phones and internet availability nationwide, and here are the most successful companies to know about:

Breadfast a household essentials delivery service reaching all of Egypt.
Telda, Egypt’s first electronic bank, allows users to do all their banking online.
Chefaa a prescription refill platform for ordering online at pharmacies.

As each country’s startup ecosystem grows and diversifies, progress still needs to be made, and the bridges between the rest of the world are as important as ever.