Olumide Awoyemi, founder of Symmex, has raised concerns over what he describes as a structural imbalance in Nigeria’s technology funding landscape, warning that excessive concentration of capital in fintech could undermine the country’s long term industrial development.
In a statement outlining his views on the state of the ecosystem, Awoyemi said that in 2024 more than 70 percent of equity funding in Nigeria flowed to fintech startups, with payments, lending, neobanking, and remittance platforms attracting the bulk of investor attention. By contrast, companies building sovereign defence systems, industrial automation platforms, climate infrastructure, health systems, and advanced scientific technologies have struggled to secure comparable backing.
According to Awoyemi, this pattern reflects a narrow investment framework that prioritises fast scaling, asset light platforms capable of delivering venture scale exits within a decade. He argued that sectors requiring significant upfront capital, longer development cycles, and deeper collaboration with public institutions are often excluded from mainstream venture capital models, regardless of their strategic importance to national development.
He cited Terra Industries as an example of the challenge. The defence technology firm reportedly secured validation from investors in Silicon Valley before drawing meaningful interest from local venture capital firms. Awoyemi said such cases illustrate how startups building nationally significant infrastructure may face structural disadvantages in raising domestic capital.
Awoyemi acknowledged that venture capital has been instrumental in supporting the growth of consumer internet and fintech businesses across Africa. However, he noted that venture capital structures are typically designed to favour companies with rapid user growth, low marginal costs, global scalability, and clear exit pathways. In his view, that model is less suited to industrial manufacturing, energy systems, biotechnology, and infrastructure focused platforms, where value often compounds over decades rather than within the lifespan of a typical VC fund.
While recognising fintech’s contribution to expanding financial inclusion and digital participation across the continent, Awoyemi argued that financial platforms largely reallocate value within an economy rather than build its productive base. He warned that overconcentration in financial services, without corresponding investment in industrial and scientific capability, could leave African economies structurally vulnerable.
Awoyemi identified sovereign defence technologies, agricultural productivity tools, pharmaceutical research platforms, bioprocessing, electrified mobility systems, health technology, renewable energy solutions, and manufacturing efficiency platforms as critical to Africa’s long term development. He said these sectors are closely tied to domestic value creation, supply chain resilience, and skilled job generation, even if they attract less visibility in venture funding cycles.
To address the imbalance, he called for a broader capital framework beyond traditional venture capital. Suggested alternatives include patient equity vehicles with longer liquidity timelines, revenue based financing for enterprise driven firms, public private co investment structures to share early technical risk, project linked financing tied to specific deployments, and blended finance models supported by development institutions.
Awoyemi also pointed to Nigeria’s Investment and Securities Act 2025 as a potential catalyst for change. He said the law, which modernises capital market rules and introduces new categories of securities and fundraising mechanisms, could create room for more diverse technology financing structures.
However, he stressed that regulatory reform alone would not be sufficient. According to Awoyemi, founders, investors, policymakers, and the media must reconsider how technological success is defined, shifting the focus from valuation milestones alone to measurable contributions to industrial capacity and national productivity.
Fintech will continue to play an important role in Africa’s technology ecosystem, he said, but long term transformation will require expanding the definition of investable technology and deploying a wider range of financial instruments to support sectors that build tangible productive capacity.