Despite the vast opportunities for success that access to the internet and technology provides for small businesses in Africa, less than seven per cent of microenterprises use technology for business, a new International Finance Corporation-World Bank research has shown.
 
The report, which was released on Thursday, indicated that economists at the World Bank and IFC analysed data from a survey of 3,325 microenterprises in seven countries — Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, and Tanzania. According to the survey, microenterprises that used smartphones and computers “reported 2.8 times higher rates of productivity, six times higher sales levels, and 1.9 times the number of employees than non-users”.
 
The survey also showed that less than seven per cent of microenterprises said they used digital technologies for business.”
 
More details at:
https://punchng.com/less-than-7-of-african-smes-adopting-tech-report 

The initiative, with investments totalling $618m, will attract direct investments in more than 200 technology and creative start-ups and provide non-financial services to about 450 digital technology, small and medium enterprises. The African Development Bank Group is the largest funder of iDICE, providing $170m.
 
The French government, through the Agence Française de Développement, will contribute $116m, and the Islamic Development Bank pending approval from its board is expected to provide $70m.
 
The Nigerian government, through its executing agency, the Bank of Industry, will provide $45m in counterpart funding. Other institutional and private sector investors are also expected to provide additional funding for the implementation of the strategic initiative.
 
More details at:
https://guardian.ng/business-services/new-digital-creative-initiative-to-lift-nigerias-economy-with-6-4b

Nigeria has been experiencing a significant increase in the development of local tech hubs in recent years. These tech hubs are aimed at creating an enabling environment for startups to thrive and contribute to the growth of the technology ecosystem in Nigeria.
 
Lagos is the home of most tech hubs in Nigeria, contributing to the economic growth of Lagos State and Nigeria at large. Some of the tech hubs springing up in Lagos include: Co-Creation Hub (CcHub), NEST Incubator Lagos, LeadSpace, NG_Hub by Facebook, and Wennovation Hub, among others.
 
According to recent research, the impact of the increase in local technology hubs on Nigeria’s economy has been significant. The hubs provide a platform for startups to access funding, mentorship, and networking opportunities, which has helped to grow the startup ecosystem in the country.
 
More details at:
https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2023/03/16/impact-of-tech-hubs-on-nigerias-tech-ecosystem
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Payment transactions through digital platforms have been projected to reach $14.25 billion this year, with an annual growth rate of 13.69 per cent resulting in a projected total amount of $23.81 billion by 2027.
 
According to Statista, a marketing insight and research platform, the market’s largest segment is digital commerce with a projected total transaction value of $12.36 billion in 2023.
 
More details at:
https://leadership.ng/digital-payment-to-hit-14-25bn-in-2023
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Nigeria’s digital economy space has recorded over $4.4 billion in investments because of strategic collaborations and programmes. The Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa, disclosed this in Abuja, at a stakeholders briefing organised by the Ministry of Women Affairs in commemoration of the 2023 International Women’s Day with the theme: ‘DigitALL: Innovation and Technology for Gender Equality.”
 
Represented by his Special Assistant on Strategy and Innovation, Mrs. Iklima Musa Salihu, Inuwa stated in 2021, the United Nations (UN) estimated that Nigeria’s female population was 104 million, as Africa’s largest economy, Nigeria has much to gain by facilitating inclusion of women in technology industries and bridging the digital divide.
 
According to him, “NITDA has over the years been implementing several strategic programmes and initiatives, which have seen an investment of $4.4 billion in the last four years.”
 
More details at:
https://guardian.ng/business-services/nigerias-digital-economy-sees-4-4-billion-investment-in-four-years
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An economist, Biodun Adedipe, has projected that the nation’s economy will achieve 3.27 to 3.32 per cent Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth in 2023, leveraging a large youthful population, growing urbanisation, and deepening Internet penetration.
 
Adedipe, while addressing participants at the Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce (NBCC) 2023 Real Estate Outlook held in Lagos at the weekend, said despite the nation’s rising macroeconomic distortions, the second half of the year (H2) is likely to witness robust activities considering the content of the manifestos of the three major presidential candidates.
 
Indeed, the nation’s economy had witnessed sluggish economic growth due to the fall in oil prices and other macroeconomic challenges.
 
More details at:
https://guardian.ng/business-services/nigerias-growth-hinged-on-youthful-population-internet-penetration
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Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Ibrahim Pantami has disclosed that the market value of Nigeria Data Protection Bureau (NDPB) in the digital economy sector of Nigeria has hit $11.9 million.
 
Pantami made this known during a press conference to mark the commencement of 2023 Global Data Privacy Week on Saturday in Abuja.
 
He explained that the Ministry came up with the proposal of having a full-fledged data protection institution and also principal legislation of data protection relations in Nigeria because of the critical nature of data to the economy in the digital sector.
 
More details at:
https://leadership.ng/nigeria-data-protection-market-value-hits-n5-5bn-minister
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Startups in Nigeria and other African countries raised $4.85bn in 2022 according to data from Africa: The Big Deal.
 
The database and insights firm which focuses on startup funding above $100,000 in Africa explained that this could still cross the $5bn after delayed funding announcements from investors are made. It stated that 1,000+ deals of $100k or more had been announced in 2022, an 11 per cent year-on-year increase from 2021.
 
It said 75 per cent of the total fund raised were in the big four countries, Nigeria ($1.2bn), Kenya ($1.1bn), Egypt ($820m), and South Africa ($550m). Fintechs dominated the funding conversation with 37 per cent of deals in the year.
 
More details at:
https://punchng.com/nigerian-startups-others-raised-5bn-in-2022-report
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As the fastest-growing start-up industry in Africa, African fintech has been projected to hit an estimated revenue of $30 billion by the year 2025. According to McKinsey & Company, the regional sector raised over $1.3 billion in 2021 alone. It added that the success of fintech companies was being fuelled by several trends, including increasing smartphone ownership, declining internet costs, expanded network coverage, and a young, fast-growing, and rapidly urbanizing population. “African fintech has a significant impact on day-to-day life on the continent and with its current upward trend it can be perfectly poised to rapidly advance Africa’s global competitiveness Access Multimedia Content “These fertile grounds do have challenges. Regulatory uncertainties and differences between countries are a bottleneck, throttling the expansion of financial inclusion in Africa.
 
More details at:
https://www.newtelegraphng.com/fintech-african-revenues-could-grow-to-30bn-by-2025 

Again, the number of Nigeria’s active .ng domain name users picked up, even though slightly from 180,162 in July to 181,275 in September 2022, according to the recent statistics released by the Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NiRA), the body responsible for managing Nigeria’s country code Top Level Domain (ccTLD).
 
The statistics, which THISDAY obtained from the official website of NiRA, showed that in July 2022, total registration, renewal and restoration was 180,162, but the figure increased in August to reach 181,278, and maintained the increase in September, with a slight difference to reach 181,275, which is the current number of active .ng domain name users in the country as at September 2022.
 
More details at:
https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2022/11/10/nigerias-active-domain-name-users-increased-from-180162-in-july-to-181275-in-september
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