Hi, Quartz Africa readers!
Being measured
Happy New Year!
We spend a lot of time writing about data paucity in covering African markets. But sometimes the issue isn’t the lack of information but its accuracy or relevance. Then there’s the other challenge of ensuring the data is consistent as you want to be sure you’re not comparing apples with oranges.
The issue of inconsistency around data is one that we see frequently in the nascent tech space particularly around funding. It’s frustrating for investors, analysts and journalists trying to produce credible work on the size, opportunity and risks of the market.
But there are reasons why this is a good problem to have.
We’re still in the early days and there are growing pains, so as much we’d want to have a nice, straightforward story to tell, the metrics and parameters we can all agree on are still being worked out.
Figures out this week put the total level of venture funding in African startups at $725.6 million in 2018, a record high up from $203 million a year earlier, as measured by WeeTracker. It also noted there were 458 deals done compared with 201 in 2017.
Those figures are very impressive but between now and possibly past the end of February, there’ll be other market reports on the size of African startup funding and they’ll each have different numbers—higher and lower. Often it’s because market researchers measure slightly different data points or categorize companies differently, for example. Sometimes it’s because a few startups do not disclose their funding in a timely and transparent fashion.
Rest assured, there will be consistency about a few things. Like WeeTracker, other reports will also note Nigeria is growing as the lead startup center for investors and will also likely recognize fintech as the most favored sector for investors in most cities.
Fortunately, all these reports will all be consistent about what we think is the most important observation. This is that Africa’s startup ecosystems are growing rapidly with more funding than ever pouring into the sector at high double-digit to triple-digit percentage growth rates. That is happening while the ecosystems’ fortunes are being increasingly decoupled from the state of their local economies.
You could say this is one of those times when perhaps the trend direction is more important than the precise data.
— Yinka Adegoke, Quartz Africa editor
Stories from this week
The key African elections to follow in 2019. Tens of millions of Africans will vote this year in crucial polls spanning from Tunisia in the north to Nigeria in the west to Botswana and Mozambique in southern Africa. As voters queue, they will face issues from fake news to weak opposition parties and discontent over economic growth.
The young African innovators to watch in 2019. Keeping with Quartz Africa‘s focus on spotlighting innovators across the continent, Yomi Kazeem highlights some of the young talent we’re keeping an eye on this year. Across fashion, robotics and artificial intelligence, these innovators—all younger than 30—are breaking barriers.
African Leadership University raises $30 million to reinvent graduate education. Mauritius-based ALU raised $30 million in a Series B round led by a Danish billionaire. The founders are putting the funding to rolling out a new graduate-focused program called ALX, which are lifelong learning centers coming to Johannesburg, Lagos, Cape Town and Casablanca.
African governments can negotiate better infrastructure deals with China, if they take these steps. The rapid rise of the importance of China to helping African countries solve their infrastructure ambitions has led many observers to question if some governments have been to quick to agree to bad deals. Folashade Soule lays out four conditions that need to be met when these governments deal with China.
Coachella is the festival where underground artists go mainstream—but not African acts. Even as Afrobeats emerges as Africa’s leading international music genre, it seems Coachella isn’t listening. This week the California festival announced its 2019 lineup, with only two African performers on the bill. For African artists wanting to go global, writes Lynsey Chutel, the pressure is on to show they can handle the spotlight, and cross over.
How “democracy of bread” is upending a 30-year government in Sudan. For over two weeks now, cities across Sudan have erupted over a government decision to cut wheat subsidies, tripling the prices of bread. Abdi Latif Dahir explains the politics of bread and how they have been used to maintain social order in Africa.
Chart of the Week
South Africa’s biggest investors are worried about a Chinese conglomerate thousands of miles away. The fortunes of Africa’s most valuable company, Naspers, are closely tied to China’s Tencent, writes Brian Browdie. Shares of Naspers, the South African media giant, once suffered their biggest single-day drop in 10 years based on earnings news from Tencent because Naspers’ stake in the Chinese internet group is more valuable all of Naspers.
Other Things We Liked
The efforts to end the war over Africa’s so-called “last colony.” Morocco dominates over 80% of the disputed territory of Western Sahara with a minefield berm separating it from the Polisario Front-controlled areas. In the New Yorker, Nicolas Niarchos reports on the negotiation talks spearheaded by US national security advisor John Bolton that could help settle the conflict once and for all.
Mobile money treasure in Zimbabwe sparks fight over billions. On the back of Zimbabwe’s currency crunch, the country’s wealthiest man Strive Masiyiwa built an empire out of mobile payments platform EcoCash. Now, after a successful IPO, the company finds itself in the midst of an international shareholder tussle pitting a New York-based father-son investment house against Masiyiwa, as Gabriele Steinhauser reports in the Wall Street Journal ($) .
The enduring challenge facing Ethiopia’s new premier. Since coming to power last April, prime minister Abiy Ahmed has introduced radical reforms that have reset Ethiopia’s internal and foreign affairs. But as Mahmood Mamdani writes in the New York Times, ethnic federalism enshrined in the constitution is the key issue Abiy will have to tackle if his reforms are to succeed at home.
ICYMI
Fully-funded study at Oxford University. St Antony’s College and the energy company Eni are offering African students the opportunity to undertake an all-paid, one-year graduate program. (Jan. 25)
Master’s degree in mathematical sciences. Female African applicants are especially encouraged to apply for the 18-month, fully-funded graduate degree program. (Mar. 31)
Keep an eye on
DR Congo’s election results (Jan. 6) Amid a tense post-poll period and an internet shutdown, preliminary results are set to start trickling in, with the final results expected not before Jan. 15.
Africa Tech Now (Jan. 8-11). The event will showcase the best of African entrepreneurship at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. You can follow Quartz‘s coverage here and subscribe for a special newsletter edition on the event.
*This brief was produced while listening to Karibu Yangu by Tshala Muana (DR Congo).
Our best wishes for a productive and thought-filled week ahead. Please send any news, comments, suggestions, tickets to Coachella and your best negotiation tips to africa@qz.com. You can follow us on Twitter at @qzafrica for updates throughout the day.
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