Seven technology companies defied tough economic conditions in Nigeria to grow their combined revenue by 621.53 percent, rising from $76.14 million in 2020 to $549.37 million in 2023.
The companies, Omniretail ($120.15 million), PalmPay ($63.90 million), Moniepoint ($264.51 million), Chams ($15.18 million), Paga ($65.97 million), Remedial Health ($16.30 million), and Termii ($3.36 million) also increased their total staff strength by 259.93 percent, growing from 1,088 employees in 2020 to 3,916 in 2023.
These companies, all featured in the Financial Times’ Africa’s Fastest-Growing Companies 2025 list, weathering pandemic-induced turmoil, currency instability, rising inflation, and soaring operational costs.
Thriving amid crisis, layoffs, funding pullbacks
Nigeria’s inflation surged from 12.13 percent in January 2020 to 28.92 percent in December 2023, deepening economic hardship for consumers and businesses. Meanwhile, the naira was one of Africa’s worst-performing currencies in 2023, losing nearly 40 percent of its value following the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s decision to float the currency in mid-2023.
The naira closed the year at N907.11/$, up from N450/$ at the start of 2023. This currency crash inflated the operating costs of many startups and triggered a wave of layoffs across the ecosystem.
Despite raising $25 million in 2021, 54gene laid off 95 employees in August 2022. Two months later, it laid off over 100 more. Other startups such as Kuda, Quidax, Moove, Nestcoin, Lazerpay, and Vendease also cut staff between 2021 and 2023.
Ylva Lindberg, executive vice-president at Norfund, observed that the investment climate for African startups became increasingly difficult post-COVID.
Between 2019 and mid-2022, Nigerian startups raised $3.6 billion, according to ‘Africa: The Big Deal.’ But funding dropped to $1.2 billion in 2022, then plummeted to just $410 million in 2023. By 2024, startups in the country raised only $417 million, according to the African Private Capital Association (AVCA).
Nigerian resilience on display
Despite macroeconomic struggles and declining investment, Nigeria still contributed 28 (of which seven were startups) out of 130 companies on FT’s 2025 list, the second-highest after South Africa (51).
“Nigeria, one of the continent’s three biggest economies, spent 2023 in an economic crisis as prices spiralled upwards and the naira went into freefall,” FT said.
Yet, for two years in a row, seven Nigerian startups have made the list, a testament to operational focus and market fit. In 2024, Afex, Moniepoint, Paga, Omniretail, ThriveAgric, Seamlesshr, and FairMoney were on the list.
How they did it
Moniepoint, Nigeria’s latest unicorn, built one of the largest agent networks in the country. It transitioned into retail banking with the launch of a consumer app and debit card in 2023.
By late 2022, the company was already processing $10 billion in monthly transactions for over 400,000 businesses. Today, it serves 10 million users and processes over 1 billion transactions monthly, with a total monthly payment volume exceeding $22 billion.
This is Moniepoint’s third appearance on the list, and Tosin Eniolorunda, group CEO of the company, said, “We are very excited about 2025. We continue to innovate and develop new products to support financial inclusion and drive financial happiness – both in Africa and for consumers in the global diaspora.”
Since entering Nigeria in 2019 after a $40 million raise, PalmPay has become one of the country’s top mobile money operators. Alongside OPay, it helped increase Nigeria’s mobile money transactions by 2,472.75 percent, from 63.79 million in 2020 to 1.64 billion in 2023.
The fintech achieved this by tapping into Nigeria’s mobile boom, offering free and fast transfers during its early years and heavily discounted transfers. By March 2023, PalmPay had become one of Nigeria’s most downloaded finance apps, processing over 300 million transactions monthly.
Paga, appearing on the FT list for the third time, has built a strong agency banking network over 16 years. The company has processed N23 trillion ($44 billion) across 460 million transactions since inception.
Tayo Oviosu, founder of Paga Group, said, “We have built a profitable business scaling at venture growth levels and are on an exciting trajectory.”
Omniretail, an embedded finance and B2B enabling platform, topped the list for the second year running. The startup has focused on addressing the challenges faced by SMEs in the FMCG space since 2019 and launched OmniPay in 2022, a seamless payments platform that integrates with 13 financial service providers, enabling smooth collections and supplier payments.
According to Lindberg of Norfund, which co-led a $20 million equity round in the company, “Many microenterprises don’t have access to finance or distribution in any meaningful way.”
Iyin Aboyeji, co-founder of Future Africa, noted that much of the growth seen among these startups has been locally driven.
Now in its fourth year, FT partnered with global research company Statista for the research, noting that not all fast-growing companies succeed, with several running into trouble or going out of business.
Still, Greg Schwebig, CEO of Africaworks (also on FT’s list), warned that the global funding landscape has shifted.
“The whole start-up funding boom happened when there was excess liquidity in the developed world and cash moved to the developing world, including Africa,” he said. “Now, if you can get a T-bill at 5 percent, people think, why would I invest in Africa?”
According to AVCA, 2024 was neither a year of celebration nor collapse. “Instead, it was a year of reckoning: marked by cautious steps, tempered expectations, and quiet recalibration.”
Despite macroeconomic headwinds, Nigerian startups continue to show grit and innovation. “The entrepreneurial spirit in Nigeria, in particular, is formidable. There’s a sense that anything is possible,” added Lindberg at Norfund. (BusinessDay)
