Connect with us

E-Business

African Startup Funding Falls 28% to $2.4B in 2023

Published

on

Kindly share this post

Total investment into the African digital startup ecosystem dropped by 27.8% to $2.4 billion in 2023, showing the global capital crisis had reached the continent.

This is according to research house Disrupt Africa, which recently presented the ninth edition of its annual African Tech Startups Funding Report.

The research – produced in collaboration with Flourish Ventures, AAIC Investment, and Atlantica Ventures – found that through the course of the year, 406 startups raised a total of US$2.4 billion.

This was down from 2022, when the African tech industry defied global trends and experienced total funding rise to above $3 billion for the first time ever.

The total number of deals also dropped by 36% from 633 in 2022. The number of active investors also fell by almost 50%, and mergers and acquisition activity experienced a significant decline.

The report says this is the first time the sector, which has expanded dramatically in the last few years, has declined since 2016; though a fall in funding of less than a third is an improvement on projections from earlier in 2023, when a decline of 50% was expected likely.

The fintech sector was, yet again, the most attractive to investors, with more startups securing funding than any other sector and a combined total that dwarfed all others. Yet, as with most other sectors, it saw a steep decline in investment, down 33.4% to $964 million.

According to the report, Africa, like the rest of the world, has been affected by the global “funding winter”, with venture capital drying up and several leading startups forced to cease operations or significantly restructure their operations.

It’s important to keep in mind that this is a worldwide phenomenon, rather than an African problem, and the figures are undoubtedly better than they appeared to be at the end of Q1 or Q2, according to Gabriella Mulligan, co-founder, Disrupt Africa.

Tom Jackson, co-founder of Disrupt Africa, said that the “winter” will soon “turn to spring” and that investment would likely increase over the next 12 to 18 months, but maybe not immediately reaching 2022 levels.

“African tech is still at an early stage of its journey, with plenty of room to grow, and one relatively bad year from a funding perspective does not change that. The key thing for now is for startups to adjust to this “new normal”, by plotting a path to more sustainable growth while also ensuring good governance is enshrined within their organisational structures.

“Funds are being raised, and capital is being disbursed, and for the best ventures – and the ecosystem as a whole – 2023 should prove to be little more than a blip on the growth curve,” he said.

From a funding standpoint, Nigeria, Egypt, South Africa, and Kenya continue to be Africa’s “big four,” sharing a higher portion of the continent’s total funding than they did in 2022, finds the research.

However, Nigeria experienced a sharp drop in funding, and now ranks fourth overall, behind other three countries.

Startups secured capital in 22 other countries, according to the report.


Kindly share this post

Dear Reader, Your support matters. But we believe that technology makes life more exciting and helps improve the lives of people around Nigeria and indeed the world. That is why, we have devoted our energy to independent reportage of technology and finance and how they affect lives. Our incisive and analytical view of how technology news affects the daily life help individuals and organizations make up their minds. Quality journalism costs money. Today, we're asking that you support us to do more. Kindly support our effort to deliver technology and finance journalism to everyone in the world. Donate as little as N1,000. Bank transfers can be made to: UBA Plc 1017156876 Communication Week Media Ltd

E-Business

Microsoft Servers Hacked by Chinese Groups

Published

on

Kindly share this post

Chinese “threat actors” have hacked Microsoft’s SharePoint document software servers and targeted the data of the businesses using it, the firm has said.

Microsoft Servers Hacked by Chinese Groups

 

China state-backed Linen Typhoon and Violet Typhoon as well as China-based Storm-2603 were said to have “exploited vulnerabilities” in on-premises SharePoint servers, the kind used by firms, but not in its cloud-based service.

The US tech giant has released security updates in response and has advised all on-premises SharePoint server customers to install them.

“Investigations into other actors also using these exploits are still ongoing,” Microsoft said in a statement.

The firm said it had “high confidence” the hackers would continue to target systems which have not installed its security updates.

It added that it would update its website blog with more information as its investigation continues.

Microsoft said it had observed attacks in which hackers had sent a request to a SharePoint server “enabling the theft of the key material by threat actors”.

Charles Carmakal, chief technology officer at Mandiant Consulting firm, a division of Google Cloud, told reporter, it was “aware of several victims in several different sectors across a number of global geographies”.

Carmakal said it appeared that governments and businesses that use SharePoint on their sites were the primary target.

A number of adversaries who stole material encoded by cryptography were then able to regain ongoing access to the victims’ SharePoint data, he said.

“This was exploited in a very broad way, very opportunistically before a patch was made available. That’s why this is significant,” Carmakal said.

Carmakal said the “China-nexus actor” was deploying techniques similar to previous campaigns associated with Beijing.

Microsoft said Linen Typhoon had “focused on stealing intellectual property, primarily targeting organizations related to government, defence, strategic planning, and human rights” for 13 years.

It added that Violet Typhoon had been “dedicated to espionage”, primarily targeting former government and military staff, non-governmental organizations, think tanks, higher education, the media, the financial sector and the health sector in the US, Europe, and East Asia.

Meanwhile, Storm-2603 was “assessed with medium confidence to be a China-based threat actor”.

 

 

 


Kindly share this post
Continue Reading

E-Business

NIMC Warns Nigerians of Fake NIN Website

Published

on

Kindly share this post

National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has issued a public warning that it is not associated with NINcard.com.

NIMC Warns Nigerians of Fake NIN Website

According to the commission, the website has been circulating online to offer services for Nigerians seeking National Identification Number (NIN) services.

NIMC, in a post on its official X account on Wednesday, said, “NINcard.com is not in anyway affiliated to NIMC. Stay vigilant!”

The warning was accompanied by screenshots of fake payment receipts and OTP request pages from the website, both of which were boldly stamped “FAKE” by NIMC to alert the public.


Kindly share this post
Continue Reading

E-Business

NITDA, API Partner Against Harmful Online Content

Published

on

Kindly share this post

National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), in partnership with the Advocacy for Policy and Innovation (API), has convened a one-day workshop in Abuja to advance dialogue on the draft Online Harm Protection (OHP) Bill to confront harmful online content.

NITDA, API Partner Against Harmful Online Content

The bill, a rights-based, locally rooted, and multi-stakeholder initiative, is aimed at addressing the challenges of the digital age.

The event, which held yesterday, brought together government officials, civil society, academics, digital platforms, and legal experts to shape a policy framework designed to combat online ills such as cyberbullying, disinformation, hate speech, digital exploitation, and gender-based violence, while safeguarding democratic freedoms and digital inclusion.

In his keynote remarks, Kashifu Inuwa, director general, NITDA urged a paradigm shift in the way society engages with digital technologies.

“For almost two decades, we have viewed digital technology through a consumer lens. But these technologies are not just products and services. They are transforming how we live, work, and interact. They shape our politics, our society, and our democracy,” he said.

Warning against unaccountable digital power in the hands of private corporations, the DG likened the digital journey to the tale of Alice in Wonderland, where initial fascination with innovation has given way to deeper concerns about privacy, autonomy, and manipulation by big tech platforms.

“We thought we were using Google, but now we realise Google is using us. Social media, once a tool of expression, has become a tool of surveillance and influence,” Inuwa noted.

He, therefore, emphasised the urgency of developing a democratic and accountable framework.  He explained that following the 2021 Twitter ban, NITDA facilitated dialogue between the government and platform operators, leading to a Code of Practice that stressed Nigeria’s sovereignty and legal standards.

According to him, the same process birthed the multi-stakeholder steering committee and the OHP White Paper in December 2024, laying the foundation for the current legislative push.

Earlier in her opening remarks,  Victoria Manya, co-founder, API, observed the moral and civic necessity of the bill.

Her words: “The internet did not break society, it merely revealed its unfiltered version. Every day, Nigerians are exposed to harassment, disinformation, exploitation, and even algorithmic violence. The OHP Bill is not a war on the Internet. It is a peace offering to its users, a social contract for a digital future that is safe, inclusive, and democratic.

“We cannot answer the question of algorithmic power with unchecked state control. We must answer it with shared, rights-based governance. This bill must not be written for the people, but with them.”


Kindly share this post
Continue Reading

Trending