African startups continue their expansion journeys across the continent and beyond. Sendy, a Kenyan logistics startup that just expanded to Ivory Coast as a result of its investment in mobility startup Kamtar, is the most recent to jump on board.
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Also joining Sendy is another East African startup, MarketForce, which has also moved to Nigeria. The expansion comes after the company raised $2 million in funding just a few weeks ago.
“Africa is reported to have over 100 million merchants. A whopping 40 million of them are in Nigeria, with the highest annual FMCG purchasing in the whole continent, signifying how significant the market opportunity for MarketForce is,” said Tesh Mbaabu, co-founder and CEO of MarketForce, adding that, “Nigeria FMCG retail distribution operates very much like Kenya, it is very fragmented and competitive, which gives us the opportunity to make a real impact for both retailers and manufacturers.”
Other notable startups that have recently expanded regionally across Africa and beyond, include SweepSouth which broadened to Nigeria, Moov Africa which went to South Africa, and many others.
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The table below shows that East and West Africa attract the most startup expansions in Africa, with Ethiopia and French-speaking West Africa increasingly becoming the newest markets of interest for the startups. Also leading other sectors are fintech and mobility. The startups expanded mostly through direct physical presence or through indirect means such as acquisitions and partnerships.
African startup expansion African startup expansion
| S/N | AFRICAN STARTUPS | SECTOR | BASE COUNTRY OF OPERATIONS | COUNTRY EXPANDED INTO IN 2021 (As of October 12th) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | mPharma | Healthtech | Ghana | Ethiopia |
| 2 | Aza Finance | Fintech | Kenya | South Africa |
| 3 | Gozem | Ride-hailing | Togo | Gabon |
| 4 | Andela | Edtech | New York, USA | Latin, South America |
| 5 | SWVL | Ride-hailing | Egypt | Saudi Arabia; Europe, Latin America, and the Asia-Pacific region (through Shotl’s acquisition) |
| 6 | GOMYCODE | Edtech | Tunisia | Morocco; Senegal |
| 7 | FairMoney | Fintech | Nigeria | India |
| 8 | Autochek | Car listing | Nigeria | Ghana |
| 9 | Daystar Power | Solar energy | Nigeria | Togo |
| 10 | ZeePay | Fintech | Ghana | Zambia |
| 11 | Catch | Ride-hailing | Ethiopia | Kenya |
| 12 | AURA | Security | South Africa | Kenya |
| 13 | Paystack | Fintech | Nigeria | South Africa |
| 14 | Flutterwave | Fintech | Nigeria | Ethiopia |
| 15 | Termii | Communications-as-a-service | Nigeria | Cote D’ivoire |
| 16 | Little Cab | Ride-hailing | Kenya | Ethiopia |
| 17 | Helium Health | Healthtech | Nigeria | Kenya |
| 18 | M-KOPA | PAYG solar/ asset financing | Kenya | Nigeria |
| 19 | Nawah Scientific | Life Science | Egypt | Jordan |
| 20 | SweepSouth | Cleaning services | Kenya | Nigeria |
| 21 | Moov Africa | Mobility | Nigeria | South Africa |
| 22 | Chipper Cash | Fintech | Ghana/USA | South Africa |
| 23 | MarketForce | B2B Retail Distribution | Kenya | Nigeria |
| 24 | Sendy | Logistics | Kenya | Ivory Coast (through Kamtar investment) |
| 25 | Ukheshe | Fintech | South Africa | Asia-Pacific |
| 26 | BznsBuilder | Business Relation Management | Egypt | Indonesia |
| 27 | TymeBank | Digital bank | South Africa | Philippines |
| 28 | Vezeeta | Health tech | Egypt | Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya |
| 29 | Autocheck | Auto tech | Nigeria | Uganda, Kenya (through Cheki’s acquisitions) |
| 30 | Copia Global | Ecommerce | Kenya | Uganda |
| 31 | Treepz (Formerly Plentywaka) | Mobility | Nigeria | Ghana (through Stabus’ acquisition) |
| 32 | Flutterwave | Fintech | Nigeria | Ethiopia; East Africa (through partnerships with Amole and Airtel) |
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer who has advised startups across Africa on issues such as startup funding (Venture Capital, Debt financing, private equity, angel investing etc), taxation, strategies, etc. He also has special focus on the protection of business or brands’ intellectual property rights ( such as trademark, patent or design) across Africa and other foreign jurisdictions.
He is well versed on issues of ESG (sustainability), media and entertainment law, corporate finance and governance.
He is also an award-winning writer