The Nigerian Technology sector has been predicted by analysts to experience robust growth in 2022, as continuation to the outstanding performance in the previous year.
According to a report by FBNQuest, in a virtual session titled ‘Leading Conversation with FBNQuest,’ the African tech market is going to see a healthy growth emanating from investment in fintech and payment services, of which Nigeria is a major player.
FBNQuest is a merchant banking and asset management group in Sub-Saharan Africa that delivers a wide range of financial services through various businesses – Corporate and Investment Banking, Investment Management.
Abiola Gbemisola, while noting the fact in the session, which was themed, ‘Gentle and steady recovery’ disclosed that the African tech Market had a very decent outing during the previous year as a result of investors trooping into the market to invest in their company ahead of the future and the same is expected to continue in 2022.
In 2021, we saw the African market where Nigeria is a key player delivering robust growth in Funding. For the first time in the industry, we have seen funding in the industry which is around $4.9 billion in 2021, which is higher than the previous year.
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He noted that the market is expected to raise $10 billion as it has raised $500 million already within January and February.
“Looking at 2022, in terms of fundraising, there will be continuity. If you look at what we have between January and February, we have seen more than $500 million already raised in the market. If you have to look at this run rate at the end of the year, we will probably be looking at $10 billion for the African continent, which is two times more than what we have raised in 2021,” he said
FBNQuest explained that the funding which has been expanding in the African markets especially in the fintech sector has helped many Nigerians in terms of employment and Job creation.
However, Abiola stated that African unicorns, having some from Nigeria, are also big signs of returns on Investment which they expect to continue in 2022.
“Looking at the market in terms of Unicorns, for example in 2021, we saw 5 unicorns in the African continent over the history of the African tech industry and the significance is that we have businesses with strong models and already beginning to deliver some bit of profit. That is the idea behind unicorns and we expect to see more of such companies in 2022 investing in the Market,” he added.
Speaking on the major drivers of interest in the tech market, the panellists stated that shifting the models of investment and also investing the companies ahead of future growth which is expected of them, has been able to attract investors into the market.
Meanwhile, Tunde Abidoye, who was also a panellist in the while reiterating on the drivers of investors in the Nigerian market explained that Nigeria’s population have been also a major source of driving investors to the Nigerian market.
The session also had the panellist discussing the performance and outlook of the Consumer goods sector, Oil and Gas, GDP and inflation.
