13 Top Tech Companies to look out for in Africa
Africa has finally caught up to the world of technology and it is rapidly growing. As the western countries were creating services that would later become ground-breaking such as Amazon, Facebook, and Google, Africa waited to relegate itself to the consumer status while they shaped the future of tech. Though Africa took long to join
13 Top Tech Companies to look out for in Africa
Africa has finally caught up to the world of technology and it is rapidly growing. As the western countries were creating services that would later become ground-breaking such as Amazon, Facebook, and Google, Africa waited to relegate itself to the consumer status while they shaped the future of tech.
Though Africa took long to join the tech world, it has managed to come up with quite a number of several powerful tech companies that are currently shaping the world of tech. The continent might not have anything like Google or Facebook yet, but all developments have to start somewhere.
Here are 13 of the top tech companies on the African continent:
1. Flutterwave
Today leading as one of the most valuable Nigerian tech companies, Flutterwave was founded by Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, Adeleke Adekoya, and Olugbenga Agboola back in 2016. The company holds the record for the highest amount ever secured by an African tech start-up in a funding round.
Though the company is headquartered in California, it operates primarily in sub-Saharan African countries like Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, etc. By 2022, the company is already worth a whopping $3 billion, making it the most valuable African start-up ahead of Chipper Cash and OPay.
2. Paystack
Technically not an African-owned business since Stripe’s acquisition, Paystack caters to the same African audience, qualifying it as an African company. Its only mission is to help businesses in Africa become more profitable, envied, and loved; in other words, offering payment services to merchants across the continent.
Paystack was exposed to whole new world of opportunities when Stripe acquired the company in 2020 for about $200 million. For an example, it became the first payment service to become an Apple Pay official partner, making it even easier to transact with Apple Pay users around the globe.
3. Releaf
Releaf is an Agritech companyfocused on using technology to grow food factories in Africa. Aimed at moving farmers out of poverty, the company focuses a lot on industrializing Africa’s agricultural industry by harnessing the latest technological standards.
Additionally to that, Releaf also focuses on raw material logistics to food factories from farmers. By sourcing directly from over 1,000 smallholder farmers, Releaf has provided factories with 7.5 million kilograms of crop items, making them one of the most formidable tech companies in Africa.
4. Chipper Cash
As another African unicorn that focuses on facilitating cross-border payments across African countries, Chipper Cash achieves this mission by building apps and software that simplify payments between individuals and merchants on the African continent.
The company was founded by Ham Serunjogi and Maijid Moujaled in San Francisco, Chipper Cash has operations in Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, South Africa, and Rwanda. Since the company is yet to go public, it still retains the unicorn title, being one of the most valuable private tech companies in Africa.
5. OPay
OPay is a mobile payments service designed to simplify the process of paying bills, sending and receiving money, and ordering foods and groceries. Because there were not many companies in this when it launched in 2018, it quickly grew to become one of the biggest tech companies in Africa.
The fintech firm achieved unicorn status in August 2021 after a $400 million investment from primarily Chinese sources. It also became the first Africa-focused fintech company to reach a $2 billion valuation before being overtaken by the likes of Flutterwave.
6. Autochek
Autochek has a founder that has an astonishing background in the auto-tech segment, Etop Ikpe, and you can trust that Autochek has everything you’ll ever want in an auto-tech company, and more.
You are able to fix your car, buy a car, sell a car, or apply for a car loan with Autochek. The website also has an Autodoctor bot that tries to diagnose what’s wrong with your car using your complaints. Because the company is still in its early stages, there’s a lot of room for it to grow as a huge African tech firm.
7. Kuda Bank
This bank prides itself as the first full digital-only bank operational in Nigeria. Based in London, Kuda Bank was founded by two Nigerians, Musty Mustapha, and Babs Ogundeyi, and it’s also targeted at an African audience, qualifying it as one of the top tech companies in Africa.
It hasn’t achieved unicorn status yet, however, the bank is worth over $500 million, qualifying it for the rarely-used title: emerging unicorn.
8. Andela
This is one company that describes itself as a global talent network that connects brilliance with opportunity. In other words, Andela connects companies with engineering talents in developing countries like Nigeria, Kenya, Rwanda, and some other African companies.
From the company’s official website, you can choose to either find work or find talent, both of which are pretty straightforward.
9. Jobberman
10. MTN Group
MTN has made great strides as the telecommunications company in fintech, and it’s about time we quit pretending it’s not one of the biggest tech companies in Africa.
Headquartered in in Johannesburg, South Africa, the company also has operations in almost every country on the continent, including some outside Africa. While the company started with voice and data telecommunication services, it has now expanded operations to fields like mobile banking, lending, insurance, and digital services.
11. Jumia
Jumia has only had one main vision, becoming the best shopping destination for Africans. To simplify the novel idea of internet shopping for Nigerians, Jumia integrated logistics service to the e-commerce outlet. With that, you don’t have to worry about how products get to you; simply order, pay, and wait.
12. Interswitch
Initially launched as a transaction switching and processing company for Nigerians, before switching to a payment system linking merchants with consumers, as well as a digital payments service, Interswitch was founded by Charles Ifedi and Mitchell Elegbe back in 2002.
13. Helium Health
The goal of Helium Health has been to accelerate Africa’s transition to a technological and data-driven healthcare sector.
The medical technology company has over 7,000 medical professionals on board, as well as 290,000+ monthly patient encounters per month since March 2021. It is based in Lagos, Nigeria, and the majority of its operations are based in Africa, making the company a top African tech company.
Main Image: Incafrica.com
