Regulation
Seychelles and South Africa dominate African blockchain with 95% of funding
Seychelles and South Africa accounted for 95% of blockchain venture funding in Africa in 2023, suggesting that both countries have emerged as blockchain innovation and investment hubs on the continent. Only five African countries contributed to the total of $135 million in funding.
Seychelles blockchain startups raised $100 million from six deals, while South African startups raised $29 million from four deals, according to CV VC Africa Blockchain relationshipSeychelles has been the first to fund blockchain technology in Africa for six consecutive years.
“South Africa and Seychelles are two of the six markets where cryptocurrencies are legal in Africa and regulatory certainty is important for investments in [blockchain startups]”, Brenton Naicker, director and chief growth officer at CV VC, told TechCabal.
Despite the loosening of cryptocurrency regulations across the continent, cryptocurrencies are still banned in 12 countries and another 36 countries have “uncertain” regulatory frameworks, according to CV VC’s report.
Seychelles startups that raised funding in 2023 include Beldex, which raised $28 million, cryptocurrency exchange Bitget, which raised $10 million, and Scroll, which raised $83 million. In South Africa, Momint raised $2.7 million, while NFTfi secured $18 million.
Despite the dominance of Seychelles and South Africa, other markets, including Nigeria, are growing. In H1 2024, Nigerian startups raised $13 million in funding from five deals, representing 38% of total African startup funding.
Among Nigerian blockchain startups funded are fiat-to-crypto exchange Zap Africa and real estate tokenization startup Seso Global, which raised $300,000 and $720,000, respectively.
Have you booked early-bird tickets for the Moonshot Conference yet? Click on this link to get them and check out our rapidly growing list of speakers attending the conference!