Nigeria and other African startups are off to a bright start as funding into the ecosystem rose by 240 percent year-on-year to $289 million in January 2025, compared to the corresponding period of 2024.

In January 2024, African startups raised $85 million. However, this performance in January 2024 made it the second-best January for startup funding since at least 2019, falling behind only the January 2022 period during the peak of the funding boom, according to ‘Africa: The Big Deal,’ a funding tracker.

The funding tracker noted, however, that equity financing dominated the fundraising landscape, accounting for over 90 percent of the total amount raised at $262 million, which is a leap from the figure in January 2024. It also marks the second-highest January for equity fundraising in the past six years.

Africa: The Big Deal noted that the four largest deals in January 2025 came from the big four (Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt, and South Africa), and they accounted for about 60 percent of the total funding raised across the continent.

The Big Deal said, “PowerGen, an energy-focused startup, raised $50m+ to establish a scalable platform for distributed renewable energy solutions across Africa, LemFi (Fintech) secured $53m to further expand into Asia and Europe.

“Naked, an insuretech firm, bagged a $38m Series B to automate and expand its product offering; and Enko Education secured $24m to keep expanding its network of African schools.”

Notably, three of these deals highlight a growing trend of African startups expanding their operations beyond the continent.

Experts believe the performance in January 2025 signals a promising wave of funding in Africa’s startup ecosystem, which faced significant funding challenges in 2023 and 2024. In 2024, African startups only got less than 1 percent of global funding, with $1.5 billion in equity raised.

Davidson Oturu, general partner at Nubia Capital, noted that Nigerian startups have significant opportunities to position themselves better for funding in 2025.

He said, “The funding landscape for African startups is evolving, and 2025 will likely see a mix of challenges and opportunities. Foreign investors will remain significant players, but global economic pressures may lead them to be more cautious and selective. Startups will need to demonstrate strong fundamentals, scalability, and the ability to solve real problems to attract their attention.

MTN, Nigeria’s largest telecommunications operator on Tuesday commenced implementation of the Nigerian Communications Commission’s approved tariff hike by increasing its data prices.

A check by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) using the *312# code on the MTN network showed the revised MTN data prices.

For the monthly plans, MTN 1.8GB now goes for N1,500, replacing the previous 1.5GB plan priced at N1,000; the 15GB plan now costs N6,500, a rise from N4,500.

The 20GB monthly plan has been adjusted to N7,500, up from N5,500, among others.

Text messaging on the network has also increased to N6.00 reflecting the 50 per cent hike, while hike in voice calls rates are yet to be ascertained.

Other mobile operators comprising Airtel, Globacom, and 9mobile are yet to update their data prices as at the time of filing this report.

Some subscribers, who spoke with NAN, said they were surprised by MTN’s haste in implementing the tariff increase.

An Educationist and MTN Subscriber, Mrs Halima Balogun, lamented MTN’s haste in adjusting its tariff.

Balogun said that other networks were yet to implement the hike.

“We, the subscribers, are yet to come to terms with the announcement of proposed hike, only for the increase to be implemented.

“I was about purchasing my 1.5GB at N1000, only to discover that it has been increased to N1,500, this left me stranded because I had planned on spending only N1000.

“It would have been ideal if we were given a week’s notification before the new prices were made public to enable one to be prepared,” she said.

A 200-level Student of University of Lagos, Mr Edoziem Olunwa, described the increased MTN tariff as frustrating.

Olunwa said that the increase was coming at a time when things were becoming increasingly difficult, even as students.

“As a Computer Science student, I was struggling to help myself with the 20GB which was N5,500 but the additional N2000 is like a burden.

“Over the weekend, there was outage on the network, which was addressed but could still be better. These are the things we want the network to address,” he said.

Another Subscriber, Mr Abdulwahab Fatoki, expressed optimism that the increase would herald effective and efficient service.

Fatoki said that from the day the announcement of the proposed tariff hike was made, it was obvious that there was no going back so the best bet was to be prepared.

All the subscribers, however, expressed optimism that with the increment there would also be increased quality of service.

All efforts to speak with MTN officials before filing the report failed.

NAN reports that the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the industry’s regulatory body had approved a maximal increment of 50 per cent tariff adjustments to operators.

The Commission said its approval, though less than the 100 per cent hike demanded by operators, was in response to prevailing operational costs.

It said that its decision was pursuant to its power under Section 108 of the Nigerian Communications Act, 2003 (NCA) to regulate and approve tariff rates and charges by telecommunications operators.

The NCC said that, while recognising the concerns of the public, the decision was made after extensive consultations with key stakeholders across the public and private sectors.

“The NCC recognises the financial pressures faced by Nigerian households and businesses and remains deeply empathetic to the impact of tariff adjustments,’ the NCC said in a statement.

It noted that these adjustments would support the ability of operators to continue investing in infrastructure and innovation, ultimately benefiting consumers through improved services and connectivity.

The NCC added that consumers would benefit from better network quality, enhanced customer service, and greater coverage within the country.

(NAN)

Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) data protection cumulative revenue rose by 93.6 per cent to N12 billion in 2024 from N6.2 billion in 2023.

Dr. Vincent Olatunji, national commissioner, NDPC

This was revealed by the Commission in its 2024 Annual Data Protection Report.

The Commission further revealed that a total of 23,000 jobs were created in the data protection industry in 2024 representing a 127 per cent increase when compared with the 10,123 jobs created in 2023.

NDPC added that compliance revenue also increased to N1.5 billion from N325 million recorded in 2023, while the number of verified Data Protection Officers increased from 1,955 in 2023 to 2,888 in 2024.

The Commission’s 2024 Data Protection Report stated that the number of companies that filed compliance audit reports also increased from 3,451 in 2023 to 4,691 in 2024.

Commenting on the report, Dr. Vincent Olatunji, national commissioner, NDPC, said Nigeria has made significant progress in safeguarding the freedoms and interests of data subjects since the establishment of the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) in 2023.

“The growth trajectory follows the developmental priorities of the Federal Government as well as the Strategic blueprint of the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy.

“More importantly, it is a demonstration of our commitment to the implementation of the Nigeria Data Protection Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan (NDPSRAP) 2023-2027,” he said.

He added that the Commission has been holding data controllers and processors accountable for their acts and omissions under the Nigeria Data Protection Act (NDP Act).

He also said the requirement for fair, lawful, and transparent processing of personal data, rights to information, access, and objection to data processing, which many may esteem lightly prior to the 4th Industrial Revolution, are now very fundamental to the work of the Commission.

“This means that a trader in Ariara, Gusau or Balogun markets can rest assured that his/her personal data will not be used to open a bank account or to take a loan without his/her consent,” Olatunji stated.