My return to Lagos, the city of hustlers
I recently returned from a trip to Lagos, Nigeria. It was my first trip to Nigeria since 2019, right before Covid hit. Pre-pandemic, I was a frequent traveler to both Accra and Lagos, dubbing them both my home away from home. Although I’ve been away, I’ve whet my appetite by angel investing in companies across the continent remotely. That being said, nothing beats being on the ground.
Why Nigeria?
I have returned more bullish than ever on the Nigerian and wider African tech ecosystem. First of all, Nigeria is:
👉🏿 Africa’s most populous country with over 200 million people
👉🏿 Home to the largest population of youth in the world with approximately 70% of the population being under 30, and 42% under the age of 15
👉🏿 Home to more than 170 fintech companies and the sector continues to grow
👉🏿 Home to 82% of the continent’s telecoms subscribers
Tapping into Nigeria’s young, digitally friendly consumer group will hold the key to a new generation of economic opportunity. When it comes to the fintech sector in particular, 38 million adults in the country remain completely financially excluded; many fintech companies are seeking to tackle this issue from payments to insurtechs. The primarily young demographic paired with the growth in digital penetration and the advancement of the fintech ecosystem are all factors that add to my excitement about Africa’s giant, Nigeria.
So what’s changed since my last trip?
I was blown away by how the ecosystem has developed since I started investing on the continent in 2016. Back then, critics questioned whether Africa would deliver exits at scale. At the time I reminded them that the ecosystem was still comparatively nascent and it was only a matter of time. Over the last five years, we’ve seen what were seeds in 2016, materialise into notable exits, for example, the $200m+ Paystack acquisition by Stripe and the Sendwave acquisition by WorldRemit.
What does this mean?
As in Europe with the likes of Revolut, we’re seeing a new generation of Founders born from the successes of matured companies. This new crop of Founders are coming from the likes of Paystack employees who are now set on solving some of the continent’s biggest problems. The best example is of course Nigeria’s tech golden child, Iyinoluwa Aboyeji who from Andela began building Flutterwave (shameless investor plug 🤦🏿♀️). Additionally, Nadayar Enegesi, who I caught up with on my recent trip, was one of the Andela co-founders and is now the co-founder of Eden Life, a tech-enabled service that puts your home’s chores on autopilot.
As the ecosystem develops, we will continue to see future tech leaders spawned out of successful technology companies.
My Reflection on the Trip
The number of pre-seed and seed funds on the continent has also grown significantly since my last trip, just three years ago. Below I am pictured hosting lunch alongside June Angelides, with investors from various funds including Venture Platform, Magic Fund, Future Africa, Ingressive Capital, Awura Capital and Kairos Angels.
Finally, I was most impressed by the quality of the entrepreneurs. During my trip, June and I hosted a pitching session for a group of pre-seed founders. I left feeling so excited about the prospects of investing on the continent.
What’s next for me on the continent?
I’m busy preparing for my next trip to the continent and will be heading to East Africa after a four-year hiatus; with my eyes firmly on Nairobi as a starting point to meet local investors and founders. So if that is you then please do get in touch! But also beyond Nairobi what other tech hubs do you recommend I visit across the continent?
In the meantime, Lagos, I’ll be back soon :)
