Investment
Seven African Start-ups Shaking up the Global Tech Ecosystem By Quentin Velluet
THERE IS NO MISTAKING certain signals, even if they are weak ones, like the recent nod from the Israeli research centre StartupBlink to Africa’s growing prominence in the global startup ecosystem. Providing research and analysis on the world’s best innovation ecosystems – through its annual Global Startup Ecosystem Index – StartupBlink’s experts recently ranked Lagos 122nd out of 1,000 cities covering 100 countries. The report evaluates each city based on its ability to create an environment that fosters the growth of digital enterprises. Nigeria’s commercial capital has thus been named the best location in Africa to launch a start-up. Lagos, with a population of more than 17 million, overtook Nairobi as the top-ranked African city in the 2021 ranking, after the Kenyan city fell 20 spots year on year, to 136th place. In the Middle East and Africa region, both Lagos and Nairobi outranked Cairo (180th), Abu Dhabi (169th) and Riyadh (192nd), cities that have set their sights on attaining global tech hub status. From its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the World Economic Forum (WEF) is also sending strong signals about Africa’s start-up potential. On 16 June, seven African start-ups were included in the forum’s 2021 cohort of 100 Technology Pioneers: 54gene, mPharma, Cambridge Industries, FlexFinTx, Kuda, Moringa School and Sokowatch. Since its inception in 2000, the annual selection of tech start-ups has honoured the likes of Google, Airbnb, Twitter and Spotify.
35-year-old Nigerian doctor. His company, which specialises in sequencing African genomes, grabbed the world’s attention in 2020, when it played a pivotal role in launching Covid-19 mobile testing laboratories in Nigeria, even though the initiative meant the company had to pause its international expansion plan. After raising $15m in April 2020, Ene-Obong’s start-up is sure to get back to its core business as soon as possible. A geneticist by training, he holds degrees from Imperial College London and the Drucker School of Management of Claremont Graduate University (United States). 54gene’s primary goal is to harness genomic data to help researchers quickly develop treatments tailored to the genetic characteristics of Africans.
mPharma (Accra, Ghana)
A n o t h e r company that has come to the aid of national governments as the Covid-19 pandemic rages on is mPharma. The start-up, co-founded in 2013 by Gregory Rockson, and currently operating in eight countries, helped furnish laboratories in Ghana and Nigeria with molecular diagnostic equipment for Covid-19 testing through a special $3m fund. Joining a consortium of private-sector players, mPharma donated free vaccines for healthcare 54gene (Lagos, Nigeria/Washington, workers to the Ghanaian government. DC) The start-up, which manages prescription drug inventory for pharmacies and their suppliers, has raised a total of $53m since its founding and acquired Haltons – a pharmacy chain in Kenya 54gene’s chief executive is Abasi Ene-Obong, a – in 2019 for an undisclosed amount. mPharma
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July-August 2021
DAWN
www.africabusinessassociation.org
