Top 10 best African cities for startups

In today's rapidly evolving business landscape, startups are playing an increasingly pivotal role in driving economic growth, innovation, and job creation. With the digital age fostering a culture of entrepreneurship, cities worldwide are recognizing the significance of cultivating a robust startup ecosystem. A city's ability to foster and support startups can have profound implications for its economic development, attracting talent, and overall prosperity.

As a result, there has been an upward trend in Startup funding in the past few years. The startup valuation bubble that began in 2021 has now undergone a significant recalibration, impacting both publicly traded businesses and those that are still privately held. 

However, global startup financing fell by more than 30% in 2022 after having a record year in 2021. The majority of the drop happened in the second half of 2022, showing a worsening slump in the investment ecosystem even though this amount is still greater than in 2020 and 2019.

Additionally, factors like massive IT layoffs from companies like Meta and Twitter, and the fall of the Silicon Valley Bank have also impacted the tech world in unimaginable ways, signaling tough times for the tech community ahead. 

On the flip side, investments in AI tech have increased, and the launch of Apple’s Vision Pro may signal a paradigm shift in where Venture Capitalists invest their money. Also, techs like Web3, the Metaverse, and ChatGPT are showing the world new possibilities with advanced tech.

Without a doubt, technological advancement is an ongoing evolutionary process, and as long as people have needs, there will be a demand for newer, more practical solutions. As a result, regions all over the world are making efforts to keep up with rapidly evolving tech solutions, some more so than others. 

The Global Startup Ecosystem Index (GSEI), by StartupBlink, is an annual ranking of cities with the friendliest ecosystem for startups which began in 2017. StartupBlink is a company that provides insights to map and develop startup ecosystems around the world. The platform explores the world's top 100 countries and 1,000 cities ranked by startup ecosystem strength, accompanied by focused analysis.

The Global Startup Ecosystem Index (GSEI) is created by analyzing hundreds of thousands of data points using an algorithm that considers a number of characteristics. 

The StartupBlink Global Startup Ecosystem Map is connected with the company's Ecosystem Index in addition to the data being supplemented by other sources and international data partners. This map, which has been updated since 2013, gives a good representation of the key players in each startup ecosystem. You can find its extensive methodology in its report. 

StartupBlink works together with over a hundred partners who actively support the growth of their startup ecosystem.

Below are the top 10 African cities with the friendliest ecosystem for Startups in 2023.