A rollercoaster 2023

Last year was a tough one for startups in Africa—and everywhere else—amid a downturn in VC funding. But amid uncertainty, the industry is as resilient as ever.

Author

Anthony Miclet
January 02, 2024

Hello and Happy New Year! 🎉💥🎊

Here are our top stories from the past week:

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Thank You for 2023!

If you’re here, you’re reading our first newsletter of 2024 and before going into the stories for this week, we just want to say a big THANK YOU for being an active member of the Daba community and doing 2023 with us. 

The entire team wishes you a fantastic year ahead! We look forward to walking 2024 with you.

Libya reopens

The North African nation’s stock market reopens after 9 years

Shares of U.S.-listed cryptocurrency-related companies sold off heavily on Friday and saw Bitcoin slip below $42,000, stalling below its yearly high, as investors took profit on the last trading day of the year.

For commodities, 2023 was a bad year with the Bloomberg Commodities index falling nearly 10%. Everything from oil and gas to base metals and grains recorded declines. Gold did better, however, with spot prices up 13.2% for the year.

After an explosive rally in 2023, Nigeria’s benchmark stock index returned 45.9% while BRVM and the JSE recorded returns above 5% in what was a rollercoaster year for both stock markets. The Nairobi bourse, meanwhile, has no place to look but up after a dismal year.

Worthy mention: Libya’s stock market resumes trading after a 9-year closure due to political and security challenges in the resource-rich nation. The Tripoli-based Stock Exchange has reopened with trading resuming last week.

BRICS expansion

Egypt, Ethiopia set to join BRICS in January as bloc expands

The BRICS group of emerging-market nations is set to double its membership, with Saudi Arabia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, and Egypt joining on January 1. 

The current members—Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa—extended invitations in August to six other nations. Argentina was the only country to decline the invitation. 

The term "BRIC" was originally coined by Goldman Sachs economist Jim O'Neill in 2001. The bloc, with the inclusion of South Africa in 2010, accounts for more than 40% of the world's population and around 26% of the global economy.

Tourism boom

South Africa sees a major surge in foreign tourist arrivals

Africa’s most industrialized economy saw a notable upswing in international tourist arrivals in the first 11 months of 2023—a remarkable 51.8% increase compared to the corresponding period in 2022.

Visitors from within the continent accounted for a significant 75.5% (5.8 million) of the 7.6 million total arrivals, a major surge from the same period in 2022.

South African tourism is strongly connected to other key economic sectors that typically have low import intensity. And the pattern of its tourism data strengthens the call for easier intra-Africa movement.

Headline roundup

A summary of the major business, tech, and finance headlines of the past week.

Macro & Markets

VC Funding & Startups

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Startup Opportunities

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Our insight for the week

Get more context into events shaping Africa’s economic landscape.

2023 Recap: The defining themes in African tech — As 2024 kicks off, we take a trip down memory lane through the twists and turns of 2023 in African tech and the wider digital economy. 

In what was a rollercoaster year, budgets and valuations were cut, business models revised, layoffs were frequent, and some ventures shuttered as the harsh realities of a funding downturn, mismanagement, and fraud took their toll on African startups.

The question on everyone’s mind is will 2024 be better?

Perceptions of industry performance and expectations for the future vary.

For one, many factors that kept VC activity subdued in the continent this year are still present going into the new year. But even amidst the uncertainty, investors remain optimistic and Africa’s tech ecosystem is as resilient as ever.

You can read our recap of the major themes in Africa’s tech ecosystem on the Daba website. Just tap the button below.

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Catch you next week!