Beautiful Virgin Islands

Monday, Oct 06, 2025

Why Jack Dorsey and other major tech figures are suddenly interested in Africa

Why Jack Dorsey and other major tech figures are suddenly interested in Africa

The Square and Twitter CEO says he plans on spending up to six months in Africa and that “Africa will define the future.”

Microsoft, Facebook and Google are all involved in the continent with accelerator programs - Visa, Mastercard and Salesforce are making venture investments in African start-ups.

Early Facebook investor Jim Breyer says Africa “presents some fundamental leapfrog opportunities” that have been unlocked through the rise in mobile phones and other platforms.

Jack Dorsey is in good company when it comes to Africa.

The CEO of Twitter and Square announced last month that he would spend up to six months in the continent next year, with few specifics. But he’s one of dozens of U.S. CEOs and global venture capital investors seeing potential for technology disruption - and returns - throughout the continent.

“We’re seeing a lot of the investment opportunity and growth happening in the tech sector,” said Witney Schneidman, a Brookings fellow with the Africa Growth Initiative and former deputy secretary of state Clinton administration.

“Jack Dorsey is in the right place at the right time and investing the appropriate amount of time to begin to understand the complexity of the African market.”


Africa has a young and booming population, which Schneidman said makes it a “natural market for any tech entrepreneur.” The 54 countries in Africa have a combined population of 1.3 billion people with an average age of 19, and more than half of global population growth over the next 30 years will happen there, according to a recent UN report. Africa also has the largest population of underbanked and unbanked people in the world, making it appealing for companies in financial tech and payments.

Jim Breyer, an early Facebook investor and partner at Accel Partners, likened the investment opportunity to China in the early 2000s. Breyer, who’s now the founder of Breyer Capital and Co-Chairman of IDG Capital based in Beijing, said promising businesses in Africa haven’t necessarily invented something new - they’re finding “novel ways to leverage technology.”

“Africa similarly presents some fundamental leapfrog opportunities that have been unlocked through the use of mobile phones and other technology platforms,” said Breyer. “We’re seeing some of the smartest individuals from top academic institutions in the U.S. and elsewhere return to the African continent, thereby contributing to a growing talent pool of entrepreneurs and developers.”


Venture bets

Major tech companies are taking notice and have launched start-up accelerator program to help get more companies off the ground. Microsoft said in May that it will spend $100 million over five years on its first African development center, starting in Kenya and Nigeria. Facebook and Google both have African accelerator programs for local start-ups.

Chinese conglomerate Alibaba has a similar program. In December, Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma published an op-ed in the New York Times outlining the “next digital revolution” driven by African entrepreneurs.

Some companies are going the venture capital route and placing strategic investments in African start-ups. Visa, for example, announced a 20% stake in African consumer-payments product PalmPay.

Online payment processor Flutterwave, based in Lagos and San Francisco, is another popular bet. It has partnerships with Uber and Alipay and has raised money from Salesforce Ventures, Mastercard, and Google Developers Launchpad, among others, according to Pitchbook.

Breyer backed Ghanian healthcare company mPharma in 2017, which earlier this year acquired Kenya’s second-largest pharmacy chain. He has also backed e-commerce company Sokowatch, Africa Health Holdings, Jetstream, and Apollo Agriculture.


Infrastructure opportunity

Part of the opportunity is a lack of existing, legacy systems. Ben Lynett, another early investor in Sokowatch and founder of Lynett Capital, said that’s often an opportunity, not an obstacle.

“What we’re now seeing is missing infrastructure that tech can solve,” said Lynett, who began investing in Africa in 2016. “You have a lack of infrastructure and a potential leap-frog effect where things haven’t been build, but 2019 technology can come in and figure out what makes sense and apply it in a unique way.”

Valuations are also more “reasonable,” Lynett said. Of the more than 400 start-ups worth $1 billion or more only two are based in Africa, according to CB Insights.

Chinese venture investors have been upping their bets in the region. Two Nigerian fintech firms - Opay and PalmPay - raised more than $220 million from Chinese venture capital investors in the fourth quarter of 2019.

With those opportunities come headwinds. Lynett said scaling and finding enough technology-focused talent can be a challenge. Brookings’ Schneidman said knowing the rules and “ensuring the rules are consistent” across the 54 countries in Africa “can be a challenge” as well as finding local partners in that market can also be a headwind. But as valuations skyrocket in the U.S., there may be increased interest abroad.

“The venture capital world and Africa are still working hard to find each other,” he said. “The returns aren’t what investors are used to in the U.S. and Western Europe so we don’t see a flood at this point - but we do see people who understand the market.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
×