Incessant Internet Shutdown – We hope this is reduced in 2020
On the flip side, there has been an ongoing government clampdown on social media rights of citizens. Several African governments shut down the internet and even imposed taxes on digital payments in 2019. Incidents range from shutting down internet services to prevent exam malpractice in Ethiopia, an ‘Information and Communication Amendment Bill’ in Kenya and the brewing ‘Protection from Internet Falsehood and Manipulations Bill’ in Nigeria.
There were also reported cases of internet clampdown in Chad, Tanzania, Liberia, and DR Congo. Although these violate the right to freedom of opinion and expression of the citizenry, it might spill into 2020 if not properly managed.
Investments
Statistics show that investors are taking Africa-based tech startups very serious. In 2019 alone, Andela raised $100 million Series D funding. PEG Africa raised $25 million while Branch raised $170 million in respective Series C debt and equity rounds. Also, Visa invested $200 million in Interswitch, totaling its valuation to $1 billion. By the end of April, 44 startups had raised over $1 million each in 2019. Sectors like logistics, fintech, healthcare, energy and agriculture are receiving funds. This will also continue into 2020.
It’s still early days but we are confident that Africa is investment-ready. Its large market size and enormous population of consumers are adequately leveraged by tech startups. They are rapidly developing innovative solutions that are commanding the attention of the whole world.
These are some of the more interesting developments but the list is in-exhaustive in one post. 2019 was great and from all indications, 2020 promises to be better for the African tech ecosystem.
