Sunday, December 7

Entrepreneurship

The Harambeans are young entrepreneurs transforming the innovative African ecosystem. www.theexchange.africa

In the latest fundraising led by B Capital Group, Flutterwave raised US$250 million, with participation from Alta Park Capital LP, Whale Rock Capital and Lux Capital.

Flutterwave said in an emailed statement on Wednesday. “The investment has enabled the company to become the highest valued African startup,” a Flutterwave email read.

Flutterwave has processed transactions worth more than US$16 million in over 50 million transactions across dozens of countries in Africa, facilitating cross-border transactions in multiple currencies for companies, including Uber Technologies Inc., Booking.com and Alibaba’s Alipay. It has evolved beyond payments products to an online marketplace and a lending channel to small and medium businesses.

With operations from the Nigerian commercial hub of Lagos to Nairobi, Kenya, the San Francisco-based company will continue to grow in East Africa. According to Flutterwave’s software engineer, the company also plans to expand its Francophone African nations such as Senegal and Cameroon.

ECOMMERCE

Africa’s tech habitude is on the rise. Internet usage has risen significantly on the continent. On top of that, the advent of the coronavirus pandemic accelerated the prospect of growth in the digital sphere. E-commerce is one such opportunity that affords businesses access to broader market opportunities in every arena. According to McKinsey, a worldwide consulting firm, the e-commerce industry in Africa is expected to grow to a $75 billion industry by 2025.

E-commerce is growing. It is accelerated by a growing and youthful population that is increasingly exposed and has an appetite for greater efficiency and improvement of business to first-world standards. The African diaspora has also contributed to this growing demand as people have become more exposed to what is going on around the world. Technology itself dissolves existing borders and opens up trade regionally and internationally.