Speaking at the Nigeria Tech Summit on Friday in Abuja, the U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria, Mary Beth Leonard, said African startups raised about $2.9 billion in total, whereas Nigerian based companies raised $1.7 billion.

She said, “Africa-based tech startups have raised more than $2.9 billion. Nigerian startups, which are creating new products, services, and platforms, raised $1.7 billion of this total or about 60% of it. Africa boasts a total of seven tech ‘unicorns’, or companies valued at over $1 billion. I find it very exciting to note that three of these companies — OPay, Flutterwave, and Interswitch – are born and bred of Nigerian talent. We firmly believe that Nigeria, with the proper support, has enormous potential to do even more. The U.S. Mission will continue to do its part to support Nigeria’s burgeoning tech scene and encourage the creation of enabling environment necessary to foster a sector that will, in turn, launch still more global businesses and contribute to a more prosperous future for all its citizens. I also want you to know that our commitment and support to such key populations within Nigeria was not hindered by the pandemic,”

She said this during a courtesy visit to the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige in Abuja on Tuesday February 18.

She said “I need to clarify something for you here. The immigrant visa ban does not affect people who are currently resident in the United States. It does not cancel the status of anyone who currently lives in the United States. What Secretary Pompey said was that it was meant to be temporary. And it is about problems with information sharing which are investigable, achievable and resolvable and we look forward to Nigeria in a very short time being able to meet those information sharing goal so that the decision can be reviewed.”