Investors update: April 17 2023 - Climate-focused VC funding heats up in Africa

Climate-focused VC funding heats up in Africa

Highlights

• Venture capital activity around climate tech has been heating up in Africa despite the global VC funding cooldown.
• The continent’s climate tech startups secured over $860 million in equity funding in 2022, making it Africa’s most funded sector after fintech. This was largely driven by clean energy technologies.
• Last year’s figure represented a 3.5x growth despite macroeconomic headwinds. Over the past few months, a slew of new funds dedicated to investing in the space have launched, indicating that funding for climate tech startups will persist for a while.

Source: TechCrunch

Our Takeaway

When it comes to climate change, nowhere promises bigger opportunities than in Africa. The region offers a massive investment opportunity given the need to reinvent all sectors, and we’re already seeing new value chains and business models created – from sustainable agribusiness to renewable energy, driven by a young and rapidly-growing population increasingly tackling big challenges and creating new markets. These present an ever-increasing pipeline of climate-related investment opportunities, hence the recent slew of funding dedicated to the space comes as little surprise.

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Chekkit gets funding to scale its blockchain-powered solution

Highlights

• Nigerian anti-counterfeiting startup Chekkit has secured additional funding to help it scale its blockchain-powered drug safety and tracking solution.
• Formed in 2018, Chekkit is an anti-counterfeiting, asset-tracking, and consumer feedback analytics tool. Its platform tracks product movement and the parties involved in transferring products from warehouse to distributor, and on to the final consumer.
• The startup has helped secure over 50 million pharmaceutical and consumer goods products and with the funding plans to onboard more manufacturers across Nigeria and Africa, while also expanding to new markets in India, the UK, and the Middle East.

Source: Disrupt Africa

Our Takeaway

In Africa, blockchain technology is being used in many innovative ways and in essential industries from tech, agriculture, mining, and remittances to inclusion, identity, and property, to name a few. Yet, the continent has only a 0.5% share of global blockchain venture funding, which stands at $25.2 billion. In 2021, African blockchain funding was estimated at $127 million, similar in size to a single blockchain ‘mega-deal’ of which there were 59 globally, indicating a massive gap in funding.

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Nigerian equities slide as pressure from sell-offs persist

Highlights

• The NGX All-Share Index and Market Capitalization depreciated by 2.08% to close last week at 51,893.94 and N28.268 trillion ($61 billion) respectively. 
• All other indices finished lower except for NGX Consumer Goods and NGX Sovereign Bond. 
• A total turnover of 2.824 billion shares worth N10.964 billion in 15,686 deals was traded this week by investors on the floor of the Exchange. 

Source: Nairametrics

Our Takeaway

Negative sentiments in the Nigerian equities market persisted last week as profit-taking was seen in key banking stocks and analysts believe the volatility in the market will remain ahead of the dividend-paying season. The top five banks in Nigeria, also known as tier-1 banks or FUGAZ, experienced a 1.75% decline in market capitalization, resulting in a loss of N44.2 billion for investors. Overall, four out of the five tier-1 banks suffered negative market sentiments during the week, while one remained unchanged.