14/12/2024
AFRICAN BASED BROADBAND COMPANY ,TIZETI WANTED TO BE LISTED ON NIGERIA STOCK EXCHANGE
Tizeti, a Y Combinator-backed internet service provider with operations in Nigeria, Togo and Cotd'Ivoire, is set to list on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX), two years after it first announced its ambitions to become a public company. The initial public offering (IPO) will allow Tizeti to raise capital from a wider range of investors and provide an exit opportunity for early investors at a time when venture capital activity is still subdued.
Raising capital in naira will help the 11-year-old company avoid the pressure of having to generate venture capital-level returns, a daunting task given the devaluation of the naira and a slowing economy.
" We will announce more information about the IPO soon," Temitope Osunrinde, vice president of marketing at Tizeti Networks, said, without disclosing a timeline for the IPO. The IPO would be a big win for NGX, which has been trying unsuccessfully to convince Nigerian startups to list on the stock exchange.We have kicked off this journey, but are now focused on launching our fiber broadband service.
African startups often choose to list on foreign exchanges such as the New York Stock Exchange. But some startups have experienced the unforgiving nature of these markets.
After e-commerce giant Jumia launched its initial public offering (IPO) in 2019, the company's shares traded around $14.50 but quickly bounced back. Today, the company's shares trade at $4.64 and its market capitalization of $469 million is less than half of its heyday of around $2 billion. Nasdaq-listed Swvl Holdings' share price also fell from about $247 per share in 2021 to $6.34 in 2024.
With few successful overseas IPOs by African startups, industry insiders like Iyin Aboyeji believe startups should consider listing on NGX after achieving annual recurring revenue (ARR) of more than $1 million.
"They need to think carefully about why and from whom they need to raise Series A. Raising a Series A from a fund that can't fund it to a global IP"
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