Black unicorns

A Unicorn Dry Spell In African Tech Is Defying Rosy Predictions

By  |  August 18, 2022

Despite the jitters of a looming recession and an unfolding downturn that has put global venture capital funding in a slump, the steady supply of new tech unicorns has been something of a surprise deviation from the prevailing dynamics, although this is apparently truer for some markets than others.

Globally, the unicorn count appears to be maintaining pace despite headwinds. However, Africa’s bubbly tech ecosystem seems notably absent from the 2022 unicorn scoreboard - at least, so far. And this seems even more conspicuous against the backdrop of last year’s unprecedented showing.

In 2021, five African startups (Flutterwave, Andela, OPay, Wave, and Chipper Cash) acquired their horns in record-making fashion, as industry chatter conveyed excited predictions of more of the same in the coming year.

Those predictions may now appear to have been overly optimistic. The possibility that the blitz of 2021 was a rare event in the African tech trajectory, and not necessarily a sign th...

Most Read


Nigeria’s Crypto Traders Take Business Underground Amid War On Binance

Nigeria’s heightened crackdown on cryptocurrency companies over the naira’s slide is driving the


Kenya Is Struggling To Find Winners After Startup Funding Boom

Kenya, the acclaimed Silicon Savannah, is reeling from turbulence in its tech landscape.


The New Playbook Behind Private Equity’s Quiet Boom In Africa

Private equity (PE) investment in Africa has seen a remarkable upswing in recent