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First published 27 July, 2024
Why hasnt Kenya produced a unicorn yet?If you ask any Kenyan founder, they will tell you that achieving unicorn status is equivalent to striking gold. It represents the pinnacle of success, a milestone that only seven startups in Africa have achieved. Kenya, despite being one of the four largest tech ecosystems in Africa, has no homegrown unicorns. A successful Kenyan startup could potentially expand rapidly across the East African region, significantly increasing its market size and chances of becoming a unicorn. But has this happened? What setbacks might Africas Silicon Savannah be facing, considering that many startups generally have unicorn ambitions ?
There is a general thesis that Kenyan startups are not ambitious enough to solve the continents most complex issues. The Global Startup Ecosystem Index Report declared that Kenya has not produced unicorns because its startups have yet to explore regional and international markets. StartupBlink, in a separate report , agreed: Kenya will not be able to create a critical mass of unicorns from within its local market.
Five industry experts who spoke to me cite several reasons Kenya hasnt had a unicorn, including the one that says the country is a small market. A unicorn from these lands would need to be a continental or global business, solving a larger-scale problem, one angel investor told me.
