The Global Startup Ecosystem Report has released it’s 2020 report today and it gives us a glimpse of the world’s most comprehensive and practical research on startup success and ecosystem performance. They partner with over 300 organizations to help them make their research possible.
Startup Genome’s coverage of ecosystems is growing. Their analysis now ranks the top 30 and 10 runners up global startup ecosystems, as well as 100 emerging startup ecosystems. In the past, the rankings included only the top 30 global startup ecosystems, but have now been expanded to include regions that have traditionally received less coverage, including Central Asia, Middle East, Africa, and South America.
According to the 218-page report that Techjaja has been privy to, Uganda’s fintech industry had an average annual growth rate of 35 percent, with almost half of the nation’s approximately 80 fintech startups operating in the payments sector.
DusuPay, is a leading (Business to Business) B2B operating in the payments sector it has a payment gateway operating in 115 countries, with the mobile payment platforms in many African countries to promote intra-African trade.
Xente and Eversend are other examples of successful fintech companies that have raised pre-seed funding rounds ($100,000 in 2018 and $120,000 in 2019, respectively).
ALSO READ: How to create virtual cards using the neo-banking app Eversend
Why you would invest in Kampala
- Uganda created $57 million in Ecosystem Value over the last 2.5 years.
- A growing market of active tech hubs and government initiatives are cited in the report as reasons a startup should move to Uganda.
- Fintech is a regional sub-sector strength.
According to the report, the Government of Uganda has put in place a conducive environment, allowing for the establishment of an innovation hubs ecosystem and a marketplace for Ugandan digital products.
The Startup Market & tech Hubs
As the population skews towards tech-savvy millennials with rising incomes, there’s a large pool of unmet needs, particularly in financial services. When it comes to tech hubs; Uganda’s leading tech hubs are organized under Startup Uganda. The country has over 16 tech incubation hubs, including The Innovation Village, Outbox Hub, Hive Colab, Design Hub, Makerere Innovation and Incubation, The Tribe, etc.
ALSO READ: Sparking a technology revolution in Uganda, these are Kampala’s leading tech hubs.
The government has funded around 4,450 projects through a youth venture capital fund that supports young individuals and groups.
COVID-19 Policy
The report further indicates that Uganda’s Revenue Authority (URA) granted a 2-month extension on corporate tax filing deadlines until May 1, 2020, for taxpayers with accounting periods ending in September. Uganda’s pension fund, the National Social Security Fund (NSSF), has granted an amnesty to businesses, allowing them to defer
payment of benefits to a later time.
